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First edition of ‘national Hackathon’ launched, calls for applications from Nigerians

FutureHack

The first edition of FutureHack, described as the national technology hackathon event in Nigeria has been launched, with teams expected to solve problems in three areas; Health, Agriculture, and Education. Apart from the bragging rights of winning the national hackathon, over N3 million in cash is available among other prizes and benefits.

The Futurehack is intended for computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers, project managers, domain experts (and others) collaborating intensively on software projects.  The program is an initiative of the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), a Subsidiary of the National Information Technology Development Agency’s (NITDA)

“FutureHack is conceived as an initiative to drive Nigeria’s Digital Transformation while addressing four of the agency’s priority areas- local content development and promotion, digital job creation, digital inclusion and Government digital services,” noted Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, DG/CEO NITDA.

The contest is expected to generate ideas (and prototypes) for the specified sectors, and drive Nigeria’s innovation and digital economy. It has been designed as a regional event, which will hold in academic institutions so as to inculcate innovation and entrepreneurship culture in students.

The organizing agency stresses, “Participation is not limited to citizens within a region. All Nigerians in the country and in Diaspora are eligible to apply”. The three editions of the FutureHack challenge will be held in the North-Central (focusing on eHealth), North-West (eAgriculture) and South-West (eEducation).

The call for application for all identified areas; eHealth, eAgriculture and eEducation is open until the 28th June 2019 and can be done viahttp://apply.futurehack.ng/

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For eHealth, identified problem areas include:

  1. Drug abuse
  2. Patient care and management
  3. Healthcare in rural areas
  4. Sanitation in healthcare facilities
  5. Epidemics
  6. Hazardous working conditions
  7. Mental health and suicides

For eAgriculture, identified problem areas include:

  1. Climate change
  2. Carbon emission
  3. Genetically modified crops (GMO)
  4. Disease control

For eEducation, identified problem areas include:

  1. In and out of school children and youth
  2. Quality assurance and quality control in education
  3. Gender divide in education and ICT
  4. Affordable quality education
  5. Teacher traning/recertification

Criteria for applicants include:

  • Individuals and teams of a maximum of three can apply.
  • An executive summary clearly stating the area of interest/participation, with indication of the preconceived approach to tackling it
  • The team must be solving a problem in eHealth, eEducation, and eAgriculture sectors.
  • All team members should be present at the event and come with their own personal computers.
  • Teams are to create a pitch deck for the demonstrations in which each group presents their results to a panel of judges that will select the winning teams, and prizes will be given.

Apart from the N3 million available for winners, there are other benefits including free cloud services from IBM for the winners of the challenge. There is also an opportunity for a 3-6 month incubation, which will include training, mentoring and workspace at an appropriate hub to nurture and transform the ideas into valuable products and services.

CALEB OJEWALE