A leading indigenous manufacturer of electricity meters in Nigeria, MOJEC International, has donated N2 million to the runner-up at the just concluded Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon.
The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon was an initiative of the Lagos State Government in collaboration with the Eko Innovation Centre to engage local technological talents to design and produce smart and affordable meters in order to bridge the metering gap in Lagos State and Nigeria as a whole.
MOJEC International stated that it sponsored the Hackathon so as to actualise its commitment to bridging the metering gap in the Nigerian power sector.
The event witnessed 274 participants in the software and hardware categories, while 65 hardware and software prototypes were submitted by applicants with 10 teams emerging as finalists.
The shortlisted finalists under the hardware category were Cosmo Automation, Smart Energy, Techwizard, Power Bit Crunchers and Gadozz Electricals, while the software finalists were Vectorians, Zeena Platform, Magnitronics, Chosen Soft Tech and Gideon.
The three-day event, which was held between September 16 and 18, 2020 had the 10 shortlisted finalists presenting their innovative hardware and software ideas to a panel of eight judges, one of which was Ms Chantelle Abdul, the Managing Director and CEO of MOJEC International.
Speaking at the grand finale of the Hackathon on behalf of the judges, Ms Abdul expressed her delight and satisfaction with the exceptionally innovative ideas and creations of the finalist teams.
“I am quite thrilled that Nigeria has the capacity and technological know-how to produce meters in Nigeria. It is a dream come true. These past two days have been eye-opening. What I am truly elated about is that I saw young Nigerians do brilliantly, in a short period of time do what we have tried to spend months sourcing out of Nigeria. I must also say that we as manufacturers and the DisCos are committed to developing this industry in Nigeria and ensuring that we continue to create jobs by producing meters in the country. I am super excited today that a lot of what we procure from China are actually purchased and available here in Nigeria,” she said.
After a rigorous assessment by the panel of judges, Team Power Bit Crunchers (hardware) and Team Zeena Platform emerged winners of the Hackathon.
They will be working together to create smart and affordable smart meters. The runner-up are Team Magnitronics and Team Cosmo Automation, who will be going home with N2 million donated by Abdul.
Although the grand prize was increased from N7 million to N10 million at the opening of the grand final, Abdul made a generous donation for the runner-up, adding that the donation was done in a bid to appreciate and encourage the efforts of the teams.
She said: “We are always only looking at the winner but the truth of the matter is everybody else tries so hard. Therefore, I would like to, on behalf of my firm, donate a sum of N2 million for the runner-up.”
