Innovation & Research Centre (IRC)
IRC is DTA's focal point for applied research, AI experimentation, blockchain exploration, student innovation challenges, and tech incubation for Africa.
Applied AI Experimentation
Evaluating local African LLM fine-tuning, automated code evaluation pipelines, agentic workflows, and domain-specific generative models.
Blockchain & Digital Trust
Investigating smart contract security verification, decentralized identity (DID) for African civic records, and zero-knowledge privacy protocols.
Startup Incubation
Providing top DTA graduate engineering teams with seed technical mentorship, cloud infrastructure credits, and investor access.
Hackathons & Student Showcase
Where DTA learners deploy real code to solve real challenges.
Annual Pan-African Hackathon
A 48-hour competitive sprint bringing together DTA students and external developers to build solution prototypes in FinTech, EdTech, AgriTech, and Health Tech.
Student Innovation Showcase
At the conclusion of every 8-week cohort, top capstone projects are presented to DWSA engineering leads and industry partners for potential deployment or recruitment.
Partner With IRC on Applied Research
We collaborate with universities, technology companies, and government institutions on joint research and innovation initiatives.