Last week, reports [1] manifested of a newly announced partnership between Cheyney University and the soon-to-be-built Oboseke University of Excellence. Within the partnership, the American college, which is situated only thirty miles from Philadelphia, will help the new university in Ghana set up a program focused on aquaponics and aquaculture. In exchange, Oboseke University will provide space on its campus for projects of joint interest.

“For folks unfamiliar with food production, they are often unfamiliar with the extensive use of technology employed in the industry, particularly in the realm of aquaponics. My understanding is that Cheyney’s existing program grows tilapia, and then they use the waste as fertilizer for their basil. Ghana currently imports a significant portion of its tilapia from China, so this aquaponics program is a great way to help provide real value to the local community. However, the partnership could go beyond aquaponics,” suggested Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus [2], a US-based developer of ultra-high-performance
trading and surveillance technology that powers global equities, derivatives, and digital asset exchanges.

“You’re sitting on a new university that really has yet to define itself. It’s already looking into how its programs can provide real value to the people of Ghana. It has established a relationship with a college in the United States which would presumably like to continue to build its footprint. Notably, Cheyney partnered recently with a biochem company, leading to the opening of a laboratory on its campus. This new partnership would be a great cornerstone for Oboseke University to build on, and to develop and serve as an incubator for young innovators who attend as students,” opined Gardner.

“To be able to share our experience and knowledge with this emerging African university, and potentially help the people of Ghana develop a more accessible food supply, is an extremely significant opportunity for us, a tribute to our academic excellence, and an honor,” Cheyney President Aaron Walton has been quoted as saying.

“First, start with food supply. Then look at technology. Ghana is currently leading the way in its region, as it works toward developing a central bank digital currency. That program relies heavily on blockchain technology, and it appears that Ghana is well-ahead of its neighbors on this issue. They’re starting to build a culture of innovation, and this partnership with Cheyney really allows them to further develop that. If the universities collectively brought in a few advisors from both sides of the ocean, they could offer a workspace to innovators in Ghana who are building technologies based on blockchain concepts or in other similar avenues, such as artificial intelligence or within MedTech,” Gardner says.

Modulus is known throughout the financial technology segment as a leader in the development of ultra-high frequency trading systems and blockchain technologies [3]. Over the past twenty years, the company has built technology for the world’s most notable exchanges, with a client list which includes NASA, NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, Siemens, Shell, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago.

“Sometimes, we think of an incubator as an institution with hundreds of millions of dollars in backing and the most prestigious minds in the industry serving as advisors. But, sometimes, it can all start with folks who want to volunteer their time and expertise to help the next generation build something really cool. In a world filled with venture capital raises, it is easy to forget that, sometimes, all innovators need is a little conceptual guidance to bring their vision to life,” said Gardner.