Lagos has been on a roll with innovation and technology and this has been in a good light. With the pandemic requiring public-private partnership and organizations and individuals stepping up to taking responsibility for the welfare of citizens alongside the government. These acts are applaudable because it shows a positive movement in the kind of solution the government would take up.
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It is no longer news that power supply is a major obstacle to productivity for both individuals and businesses in Nigeria. In spite of the power capacity of the country compared to other countries with lesser capacity, Nigeria still manages to have the problem of erratic power supply. Over the years, the story has gotten better in some parts of the country and worse in some other parts. Despite this, Lagos state, being a forward thinking state, has identified the metering of electricity as one of the problems surrounding power generation and distribution in the state with over 60% of users in Lagos estimated to still be unmetered. This in turn affects the last-mile distribution to customers. The inability to resolve this not only prevents supply of constant and stable electricity, but causes significant revenue leakage and adversely affects the trust the people have in the system.
Eko Innovation Centre (with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources as Title Sponsors) is promoting efforts to provide affordable meter to the populace by facilitating a meter design hackathon to improve energy distribution, monitoring and preventing revenue leakage.
Speaking on the timing of the hackathon and global pandemic, the organizers said:
“Covid-19 threatens global supply chain across many sectors including power. While it may be hard to accurately predict and know the severity of what is ahead, it is sure that providing safe, reliable electricity service is essential for households and health care facilities. It is foundational for the survival and recovery of our communities and economy following this scourge. Given the long-term planning horizon within the power sector, we must start now to develop sustainable infrastructure for our city to thrive”.
Who can participate in the Hackathon Event?
- Entrepreneurs
- Community members
- Software enthusiasts
- Hackers and developers
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Prize
Winner gets ₦15 million and a percentage of the intellectual property royalties from the solution.
The first and second runner up team gets fantastic prizes
Timeline
Call for application: March 16th – April 10th, 2020
Application shortlisting: April 11th – April 20th, 2020
Hackathon event: April 24th, 2020
Co-creation: April 25th – April 28th, 2020
Final hackathon and award ceremony: April 29th, 2020
Production and testing: June 1st – June 30th, 2020
Are you up to the task? Register your team to get into the hackathon.
Are you a tech enthusiast or developer or even a citizen interested in this innovation? You can register to attend the Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon event.
Today, I will leave you with some wise words by Wayne Dyer
“What we think determines what happens to us, so if we want to change our lives, we need to stretch our minds.”
Featured Image Source: Trends Map
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