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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), under the supervision of Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, is hosting the 2022 Hackathon for participants including students and young entrepreneurs in Adamawa state.
The Hackathon is to hold across the six zones of the country and it is designed to bring young people together to share ideas on addressing the country’s challenges using digital innovation.
The programme which is being coordinated by the agency’s subsidiary, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) will also hold in Cross River (South-South), Oyo (South West) and Adamawa (North-East).
That of North East has kicked off in Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, Adamawa state with students, entrepreneurs and innovators from different fields brought together to articulate on addressing national challenges by leveraging technology solutions.
NITDA Hackathon is a national event in collaboration with academic institutions to drive digital innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging Nigeria’s teeming youths to ideate and develop solutions from inception through to the market.
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The programme is set to develop and grow a global network of IT experts, comprising Nigerian youths within the country and in the diaspora.
It is targeted at inculcating entrepreneurship spirit in academia, creating a platform where industry and public institutions will leverage the academic research ecosystem to solve national challenges using technology.
The focus of this year’s programme is on agriculture, security and logistics – all of which are of strategic importance to Nigeria.
Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has urged the participants to show commitment in coming up with innovations that will turn the security situation in the country around.
“Technology is all about changing the way people do things, by coming up with ideas that will solve problems. This programme is aimed at giving Nigerian students, entrepreneurs and innovators the motivation to think, ideate and come up with digital innovation that will solve our problems locally,” said Abdullahi.
While commenting on the role NITDA’s subsidiaries are playing in supporting Nigerian startups, Abdullahi said, “National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) is one of NITDA’s special purpose vehicles created to promote research and development on emerging technologies and their practical application in areas of Nigerian national interest. NCAIR is also focused on creating a thriving ecosystem for innovation-driven entrepreneurship (IDE), job creation, and national development.”
On his part, the NITDA team lead, Dr Salihu Abdulkarim, noted that the participants were divided into groups, and winners in each category will be awarded cash prizes. They will also have the opportunity to conceptualize their ideas for commercialisation to meet global standards with NITDA’s support.
