Hyacinth Chinweuba
Eko Innovation Centre, Nigeria’s top technology hub, has inaugurated EkoClimathon 1.0, the first hackathon to offer technological solutions for resolving problems related to climate change.
Victor Afolabi, the founder of the Center and curator of the Artwork of Technology Lagos, stated during a presentation that the goal of Ekoclimathon 1.0 is to provide sustainable solutions that can address the problems of climate change, with a focus on the issues of agriculture, food, and waste, the circular economy, transportation, nature-based solutions, and power.
According to Afolabi, Ekoclimathon 1.0 received 1034 entries from contributors in 11 different countries. The contributors were divided into different groups and required to work together for three weeks to come up with fresh ideas depending on their main areas.
Each group will get a chance to present their ideas to a variety of The top 10 teams with the most workable ideas will compete for a chance at the $7,500 prize pool and an acceleration program to get their products ready for the market in the finals on August 5. A jury of material experts will judge the finals.
He said the Ekoclimathon 1.0 will bring together business organizations, government agencies, policymakers, associations, agricultural sectors, and innovation centres to build a different fast track that may get the globe closer to the net-zero goal.
In order to address the issue of climate change, Afolabi stated that it is critical to start utilizing the creativity and skills of young people in Africa who are preoccupied with technology.
He stated that because of its reliance on clean energy sources and greenhouse gas emissions, Nigeria is one of the top 50 countries on earth that contribute to the problem of climate change.
According to Afolabi, agriculture is Nigeria’s largest employer of workers and best contributor to the financial system.
“We rely so much on forests and agriculture, and everything we do has an impact on the effects of local weather change that we are currently seeing”
Additionally, he noted that climate change can have an impact on immigration, noting that the high amount of immigration from other regions has left North Central in a state of turmoil.
“People can no longer go fishing since Lake Chad is drying up. Some of them have been relocated. The headers lack a place to call home. It affects the level of wellbeing over time”
According to Afolabi, in terms of technology that addresses the issue of climate change, there are five areas of digital options that are susceptible to hacking: foundational applied sciences, cloud applied sciences, decision-making applied sciences, sense and management applied sciences (Web of Issues), and blockchain applied sciences.
The more hackathons and other activities that promote this, the better. The expanding range of digital solutions can help us decrease the impact of our decisions.
Funding for weather technology surged by a factor of two during the last years of 2022 and 2021, going from $28.4 billion to $87 billion.
According to Afolabi, there may be significant money for weather expertise, and the investing communities are able to connect with organizations, policymakers, and engineers who are ready to participate in the effort to mitigate local climate change.
Celine Lafoucriere, Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Nigeria, and Generation Unlimited Lead, commented on the launch that the Eko Innovation Centre’s idea appears to be very promising and that she will be keeping an eye on the hackathon’s growth.
Celine brought up Technology Limitless 9Ja is influencing Nigerian children between the ages of 10 and 30 to become active, productive citizens by ensuring that they are all enrolled in some kind of school, training, or employment by 2030.
“It is our responsibility to make sure that no one is left behind. Therefore, we are attempting on the very weakest population of young people under the age of 30, which is staggering.
By 2030, Technology Limitless 9Ja hopes to have an impact on 20 million young people with its digital ability platform, which can help Nigerians upskill.
“It’s simple math; 2.5 million people live in Nigeria annually; we’re on the right track. We provide Yoma, a free digital platform that allows you to access digital learning. It is a really exciting digital platform where all friends can debut for free and offer any kind of skill.