CNL, Data Science Nigeria Reward Winners of AI Hackathon

Nosa Alekhuogie

Data Science Nigeria (DSN), a non-governmental organisation that is building a world-class Artificial Intelligence (AI) knowledge, research, and innovation ecosystem in Nigeria, has delivered another high-impact transformational programme through its AI for Energy Hackathon.

The programme sponsored by NNPC/CNL JV (CNL), was created for participants to develop Artificial Intelligence solutions for Carbon Reduction in the energy sector, with three teams emerging as the top winners.

According to DSN, 609 applications were received from over 100 institutions. After a punctilious process of selection, 184 participants were selected into 40 separate teams.

A total number of 25 solution documentation was received with different outcomes ranging from Hardware, Software, Academic papers/Posters, Analytical models, and Proof of Concept. From the documentation submitted, seven top finalists were selected to pitch their solution.

Three teams emerged as winners of a total cash prize of N3 million.

The winner of the grand prize of N1.5 million, is TEAM Premier; the first runner-up (second position), is Team Chemotronix, winning N1 million and the second runner-up (third position) is Team Titans, winning N500,000 in the process.

Speaking at the grand finale over the weekend, Chairman, Data Science Nigeria, and Chief Data Scientist, Seagen, USA, Dr. Uyi Stewart, said: “What you have set in motion today has the capacity to change our country Nigeria and positively impact our dire capital development effort.

“It is no fluke what AI can do to transform society, I am living proof in my day to day job, what we need now is for you to unleash your creative and innovative potential to explore how to solve local problems that will make a meaningful difference in the lives of everyday people.”
Deepwater and PSCs Director, Mr. Bobby Hulett, in his welcome speech said: “Chevron Nigeria Limited has shown commitment in quality education through investment in education, infrastructure, sponsorship, and empowerment development programme because education remains a veritable tool for personal and societal growth and sustainable development.”

He challenged the participants to focus on evolving real-life solutions that solve real world problems and advance the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Nigeria rather than winning.

Manager, Information Technology, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Eloho Agbaje, remarked that “Every great solution we have today started with an idea and for many innovators that failed, they learnt from their failures and persevered again and again.”

Director Business Services Department, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Cosmos Iwueze, commended Data Science Nigeria for initiating the hackathon with the intent to build an ecosystem for local talent development and sectoral application in Energy with the broader objective of increasing employability of young Nigerians through hands-on exposure to data science in a real-world capacity. He said: “Building solution-orientation where theories are applied and deployed is a very commendable initiative”.

Iwueze urged the students to hone the complementary skills they developed during the hackathon in addition to the technical skills they demonstrated. “The skills are not just there to progress your efforts to full-blown solutions, but pre-requisite for success in life. Therefore, consider the speed involved in developing your solutions. I am very pleased because what you have developed shows Nigeria is better in your hands. As you worked as a team during the process, embrace collaborative spirit; that is the only way you can make it happen,” Iwueze advised.

The Director also expressed confidence that the Data Science Nigeria (DSN’s) effort could spur a new generation of energy-focused Startups in the country.

The hackathon was conceived with the idea to enhance the quality of the machine learning skill set available in the country while deepening local content agenda, and to drive real-world application that solves specific business problems whilst finding an intersection between theory and practice.