E-procure, IFFMER, and E-xpose emerged first, second third positions respectively among seven shortlisted innovations that pitched innovations and ideas for the Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) Hackathon Demo Day.
The Hackathon Demo Day was organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) with technical support from the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) and in conjunction with the Ford Foundation.
The sum of N1.5 million, N1 million, and N500, 000 cash prizes were given to the three winners respectively
The hackathon with the theme “Innovative Technology Ideas to Curb Corruption and Illicit Financial Flows in Government Budgets and MDAs Procurement Process in Nigeria” took place at the ICPC Auditorium.
It was aimed at developing indigenous solutions to curb Illicit Financial Flows (IFFs) in Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and check for indigenous movement of funds within Nigeria and across international borders, to ensure the effective monitoring of procurement processes.
The seven startups that pitched at the hackathon used the School Feeding Programme (SFP) as a case study.
NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, represented by the Director, Standards, Guidelines, and Frameworks, Mr. Oladejo Olawunmi, said the hackathon is captured under three pillars of the Agency’s seven Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024), which are Indigenous Content Promotion, Digital Innovation, and Emerging technologies.
Inuwa, while speaking on Indigenous Content Promotion, said “we believe that we have to actually promote our content and have homegrown solutions here in Nigeria.”
He stated that “when we import technology, only the technology is transferred and not the knowledge,” and opined that it was not ideal to fight corruption with imported technology as there is always a back end.
For Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the DG said that innovation or idea pitched at any hackathon NITDA is part of, does not end there, but that the Agency takes it upon itself to ensure that those ideas are incubated, young innovators are mentored and given the needed exposure both within and outside the country to attract investors.
“NITDA has taken startups to international exhibitions and has won prizes at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX),” he said, adding that Emerging Technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Big data and many more are new technologies that will be useful in curbing corruption.
In his opening remarks, the ICPC Chairman, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, appreciated NITDA for the technical support it has rendered to make the hackathon successful, stating that “the School Feeding Funds investigation and experience has led us to today’s activities support by Ford Foundation.
“IFFs remain a major avenue for diversion of revenue both in the local and transnational transactions and activities. The deliverables from this event are to have negotiation guidelines that we hope will be adopted by the government, and those who have businesses to do with the government will have a template to guide them on how to act for the government.”
Giving a brief of the IFFs hackathon selection process, the team lead from NITDA, Dr. Zareefa Mustapha, said there was a call for application and even there were over 2400 applications.
She said the screening processes hubs were engaged as consultants, as they know what is happening in the technology space and are in the best position to identify viable solutions.
Dr. Mustapha said, “In the first stage of the selection process, it was screened down to 50 and from, that it was screened down to 22.
“The 22 were interviewed and they did a demo of their technologies and that was how the top seven were selected,” she added.
Dr. Mustapha explained that the selected seven innovators were judged based on six criteria: adaptability, originality, practicability, sustainability, accessibility, and technicality.
She said there was a booth camp for the selected seven at the Agency’s subsidiary National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) and there were technical partners to guide them through.
The Regional Director, Ford Foundation West Africa, Dr. Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye commended the innovators for intellectually tasking themselves to come up with their various innovations.
“Your technology may end up not being what the ICPC needs but it may be something that the Ford Foundation can take to the next level,” said the Regional Director.
He added further, “Even if you don’t win, you are a winner; the technologies that you have developed could always be used for something else.”
The other innovations at the demo day were DBlaze App, Blockchain Solution, CAVAS, and FoodySchool.
In attendance was the representative of the Minister of Education Mallam Adamu Adamu, Mr. Kashim Ibrahim a Deputy Director in the ministry.
