The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) commenced the NCC Virtual Hackathon 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to challenge Nigerian startups, Technology Hubs, and Innovation Digital SMEs to come up with adaptable digital solutions for addressing the present and future impacts of Pandemic and Epidemic diseases in Nigeria. The Commission’s Director, Research and Development, Dr. Henry Nkemadu, stated that the Hackathon was designed to engage the startups to compete in a healthy manner in such a way as to improve our innovativeness.
Nkemadu narrates the process that led to the emergence of the winners, the NCC Director said: “When we advertised and called for entries to the Hackathon, a total of 298 submissions were received from Startups. After the first and second level preliminary assessments based on the pre-established selection criteria, 56 of the startups qualified for the final stage of the Evaluation Processes.
“A very competent team of Evaluators drawn from relevant Departments in the Commission worked assiduously to recognize excellence and select groundbreaking innovative solutions from Startups and Tech Hubs capable of mitigating the challenges posed by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and beyond.”
He added that out of the fifty-six (56) Solutions from different startups that participated in the Virtual Hackathon, three (3) winning solutions were identified through a painstaking evaluation process that threw up the overall first, second, and third bests startups with the most promising and adaptable solutions.
The Three tech start-ups are KlasConnect, SmartClinic and Elizade University Team which were presented with a cheque of N3 million each.
Aside the N9 million presented to the three winning start-ups Nkemadu said: “The Commission through the Research and Development Department will continue to support flourishing innovations by creating the right regulatory interventions to give a fillip to the sustenance of startups and tech-hubs in Nigeria.”
The event was attended by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, the Director, Research and Development, NCC, Dr Henry Nkemadu, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and other dignitaries.
Speaking on the award in his keynote address, Pantami stated, “My advice to the three winners is to tell you that when you come up with your startup you need mentorship.”
“We need to work hard on how to mentor our startups. It goes beyond awarding a prize to them,” he continued.
The Minister implored the startups to work very hard and further explained that the success of any startup relies on three things: Willingness to invent and innovate, long term thinking and customer impression.
