The Nigerian Communications Commission, has announced the commencement of its third edition of the Talent Hunt Research through Hackathon, as part of its commitment to realizing the Strategic Vision Plan 2023-2025.
The NCC who is offering a N10 million grant for tech hubs and startups asked Nigerians to apply for its hackathon.
This strategic plan aims to foster the development of cutting-edge technologies and homegrown content while driving sustainable economic growth in Nigeria.
NCC has extended invitations to Tech Hubs and Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs) across Nigeria, urging them to participate in the Talent Hunt Research by submitting their innovative startups and solutions.
In a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs of the NCC, Reuben Muoka, the Hackathon will revolve around three key themes: Blockchain-enabled Data Protection Solutions for Regulatory Compliance, Assistive Technology Solutions for the Elderly and People with Disabilities, and Technology Solutions for Renewable Energy in Rural Areas.
Muoka explained that the initiative leveraged emerging digital technologies to nurture local innovation and content creation within the telecommunications sector, ultimately contributing to economic and social progress in Nigeria.
He said contestants will have the opportunity to transform groundbreaking ideas into tangible hardware and software solutions addressing industry and societal challenges.
He added that the top three solutions, one from each thematic area, will receive N10 million grants to further develop their solutions.
To be eligible, NCC said participants must meet specific criteria, including providing a certificate of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), not having received prior support from NCC, and ensuring clear alignment with one of the three thematic areas. Additionally, participants must present a well-defined problem statement, proposed solution, and deployment roadmap.
Other essential requirements include presenting a proof of concept, asserting ownership of intellectual property, completing prototype development within six months of grant receipt, and outlining a detailed commercialization plan.
The Commission stated further that the Entry Submission format indicated that the proposal must include ideation, Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and solution, Current Sweat Equity Investment, Product-Market Fit status, Verifiable Go-to-Market status, Growth Feasibility Assurances, Maturity Model and Timeliness and existing time: Disaster Recovery, where applicable.
NCC said all applications should be made online and must follow the stipulated entry format, adding that there is no financial cost to participating in the competition while full control and ownership of the intellectual property of the developed solutions remain with the Commission.
NCC explained that the entries must be made by a Tech Hub/Innovation-Driven Enterprise that must show evidence of the relationship with the Start-up/solution being entered, a 4-page Executive summary of the project concept, a 3-5 minute video of the pilot project, names, age, contact details, passport photos and profile of all team members and the website (if available) as well as an E-mail address of the applicant.
It added that all interested and qualified enterprises should submit requested documents in a zip folder to https://ncc.gov.ng/talenthuntresearchhackathon2023 with the subject of the mail titled “Submission from ” and the zipped file named after the business.
The Commission added that it has run an advertorial on the Hackathon for three weeks and hereby requests those in the startups ecosystem to note that the application closes by Friday, 22nd September, 2023.
