The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has announced Team Power Bit Crunchers and Team Zeena Platform as winners in the Hardware and Software categories of the Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon respectively with a combined prize of N10 Million and working space at Eko Innovation Centre among others.
Speaking on the significance of the initiative during the announcement ceremony at the Eko Innovation Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the hackathon is in line with the administration’s pursuit to improve the welfare of the people and a key pillar of the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda to make Lagos a 21st Century Economy as it combines innovation, creativity and local capacity to deliver solutions that will improve access to electricity in Lagos.
In his words: “The Smart Meter Initiative is another demonstration of a promise kept by the State government as it aligns with the present administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda to make Lagos a 21st Century Economy. The result of the initiative would drive local capacity that for homegrown solutions to solve our challenges, which is a great move in transforming the electricity sector in the State”.
Governor Sanwo-Olu promised that his administration would continue to support the initiative and that the outcome of the programme has inspired the desire to do even more to drive local capacity and find homegrown solutions, while taking advantage of global opportunities to solve more challenges.
“The young people in Lagos and Nigeria have proven to be hardworking and brilliant and we will do all we can to support them through our various Ministries, Agencies with enabling policies and incentives”, he stated.
While encouraging all participants, especially those that were not declared winners to never give up, he urged them to continue to persevere and improve as the present administration is always ready to support creative and innovative ideas that would improve living standards of Lagosians while contributing positively to the growth of the economy.
On his part, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, stated that the Lagos Smart Meter Programme is an important way for the government to demonstrate its commitment to improving access to reliable and affordable smart meters.
Dr. Hamzat said, “The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon, which is driving local talents to explore innovative and affordable ways to deliver smart meters for Lagos and Nigeria, is a key priority for our administration and we truly appreciate the support of all the sponsors and partners of the initiative”.
Also speaking at the event, the Honourable Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Olalere Odusote said that the Hackathon received 274 registrations, comprising of 127 in the hardware category and 147 for the software group, stressing that 65 hardware and software prototypes were, however, submitted by applicants.
According to him, the shortlisted five finalists from hardware category were: Cosmo Automation, Smart Energy, Techwizard, Power Bit Crunchers and Gadozz Electricals, while the five shortlisted software finalists were: Vectorians, Zeena Platform, Magnitronics Chosen, Soft Tech and Gideon from Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna, Benin and Oyo States respectively.
Speaking on their software prototype design, the representatives of Team Zeena Platform, Oluwasemi Oreoluwa and Adenitire Ayonikun, said that their smart meter software solution could fix tariffs and usage restrictions to guide electricity consumption by users, adding that administrators can control pricing, check working meters, energy consumption and perform oversight functions.
Olonma Ibrahim and Peter Okonma of Power Bit Crunchers, winners in the hardware category team, explained that their prototype smart meter can be monitored and controlled remotely, with additional tamper-proof functionalities which protect against bypass and other fraudulent activities.
