Canon — the world’s leading imaging company — has just announced the launch of its first Africa’s “Frontiers of Innovation” Series — a continuance of the ground-breaking multi-sector initiative that first kicked off in the Middle East back in 2016.

The series aims to unite both industry and sector professionals to provide an effective digital platform created to drive innovation, share ideas, gain insights and experiences, and form actionable solutions to existing challenges in the industry, a press release shares.

The African Frontiers of Innovation Series will reportedly operate as an online monthly broadcast that speaks to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals, sectors and economies.

During this series, experts and career professionals will be featured as guest speakers who will share their insights on ever-evolving trends, as well as dive into how different sectors are confronting the pandemic and setting themselves up for a successful post-COVID world.

“Much like the previous editions of Frontiers of Innovation, the Africa series takes a deep dive into innovative technologies and operational efficiencies across a range of sectors, including music, photography, cinema and printing,” said Mai Youssef — Corporate Communications and Marketing Services Director of Canon Middle East and Canon Central and North Africa — in a statement.

As a response to the start of the pandemic last year, the Canon “Frontiers of Innovation Forum 2020” initially launched a weekly online session. Africa Frontiers of Innovation 2021 will now function as an extension of that mission.

“Africa Frontiers of Innovation 2021 aims to expand on this, with a series of pertinent topics geared to inspire Africans from all walks of life on what can be achieved when a crisis is viewed as an opportunity, rather than just a challenge,” Youssef concluded in his statement.

Topics that the new series will address includes:

      • Innovation in music: how digitization has impacted the industry – and its challenges in Africa
      • How Cinema is re-inventing itself in a COVID-19 world
      • Content creation: the trends, challenges – and how consumer demand drives innovation
      • How print can also act as a platform for augmented reality, elevating print beyond the paper
      • How the pandemic has fueled an even greater need for traditional print media – and what this means for the modern press
      • Innovation in photography: exploring the application of modern photography – from personal to universal, and its cross-cultural implications; key trends in genres, from food styling to fashion photography

The first installment of the series — which tackles a conversation about post-COVID education moderated by award-winning Kenyan journalist Victoria Rubadiri —  airs today.

To view the recorded sessions, visit LinkedIn or Facebook.