The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta yesterday narrated how the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami challenged the Commission to pursuit digital solutions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prof. Danbatta, who disclosed this in his welcome speech at the occasion of the presentation of grants to winners of digital solutions to Covid-19, said the challenge by the Minister spurred the Commission to yield to the calls by many stakeholders to find local solutions to Nigeria’s local challenges.
“The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami’s ideas and vision spurred us to engage in what has become a celebration of some sort today. It was the Honorable Minister’s challenge to the Commission, to evolve a digital solution to the current Covid-19 pandemic which has continued to terrorize the entire humanity,” he revealed.
He admitted that the challenge is not misplaced, given that it is in tandem with the 8-pillars of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy 2020-2030, with the Honorable Minister as the Pilot, stressing the NCC considered the challenge to find a local content solution to the pandemic as fillip to its strategic designs as contemplated in the Commission’s 8-Point Agenda, which, incidentally, aligns with the 8-pillars of the NDEPS 2020.
The Virtual Covid-19 Hackathon was expected to throw up innovative and adaptable solutions that will address the present and future impacts of Pandemics and Epidemic diseases in Nigeria focusing on five (5) thematic areas namely Health, Community, Productivity, Economy and Education.
At the unveiling, yesterday at the NCC’s corporate headquarter in Abuja, three (3) winning adaptable digital solutions from Startups or Digital SME’s who participated in the competition, aimed at producing homegrown solutions to the global pandemic for local, national or global adoption won N3 million each.
The three winners are Primed E-Health, Cyberfleet Integrated Limited and Elizade University
