UI students emerge winner of FG’s maiden hackathon

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) first hackathon was won by students at the University of Ibadan (UI), in Oyo State.

The hackathon results were revealed during the NDPC’s anniversary dinner and awards ceremony in Abuja.

The hackathon was one of the events held on Friday to commemorate National Data Privacy Week, which is observed from January 28 to February 4.

Students are the primary audience for this hackathon, which aims to find indigenous solutions that can aid in implementing the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA).

President Bola Tinubu signed the act on June 12, 2023, and it established the commission’s power to ensure that organisations comply and to protect individuals’ data from breaches, among other things.

The hackathon began on Jan. 8 with over 100 applications from tertiary institutions across the country.

Students from Nile University, Team Cognito, University of Abuja, Team Liitee, and UI, Team Privalon, were among the three teams that emerged.

During the hackathon on Friday, every team gave a pitch detailing how their solutions could meet the needs of NDPA implementation.

With `ChainVote,’ Team Privalon offered a solution to the challenges of identity management and voting system discrepancies.

In the end, Team Privalon took home the N750,000 prize money from the hackathon, followed by students from Nile University in second place with a N500,000 cash reward and University of Abuja in third place with N250,000.

Privalon’s team leader, Mr. Halleluyah Oludele, stated that the team was excited to have won and was motivated to work on the solution.

Oludele applauded the federal government initiative without disparaging the work of other teams, pointing out that young people in the nation are highly skilled and capable of contributing ideas on matters of national concern.

He said their solution could be applied in any sector which could help in decentralising data for easy service delivery.

The hackathon was organised by the Nigeria Computer Society, the ISACA Abuja Chapter, and Innov8 Tech Hub Abuja in partnership with NDPC.

The students were offered free membership into ISACA, Abuja chapter, where they would receive mentorship on how to develop further their ideas.