The Digital Innovation Foundation has announced the five professionals selected for the 2025/2026 Digital Innovation Fellowship. This is following a highly competitive national selection process that attracted over 900 applicants from across the country.
The fellowship recognises professionals selected for exceptional potential and contribution to innovation in digital technology, data science, applied machine learning, ethical AI, and data-driven innovation.
In a press release obtained by our correspondent by the organisers, the awardees were selected by an independent panel of academic researchers, industry practitioners, and technology investors. It attracted several hundred nominations from across the digital technology sector. Following a multi-stage evaluation process, five individuals were selected based on technical excellence, innovation in real-world applications, and demonstrated leadership potentials within data-driven organisations.
The awards for the year sought to recognise professionals representing a broad range of applied artificial intelligence (AI) and data science disciplines, including predictive modelling, natural language processing, computer vision, automated decision systems, and large-scale data engineering. The selected individuals have led or contributed to projects addressing complex commercial and social challenges, such as fraud detection, tax management, customer behaviour modelling, healthcare analytics, and operational optimisation in enterprise environments.
The successful fellows are:
Maria Fernandez – Machine Learning Engineer
Charles Agu – Machine Learning Engineer
Ahmed Khan – Data Scientist
Sophie Clement – Cloud Infrastructure Specialist
Nnamdi Dibua – Machine Learning Engineer
Selected fellows will receive advanced technical training, executive mentoring, and direct engagement with venture capital and public sector innovation partners over the next twelve months.
According to the programme director, “The calibre of this year’s cohort is exceptional. These individuals are already delivering strong technical and commercial impact, and we expect them to shape the next generation of digital services”.