Digital Encode Rewards Cyberchain Hackathon Winners

Nosa Alekhuogie
A frontline Cybersecurity and Consultancy firm in Africa, Digital Encode Limited, has again endeared itself to the young community in the cybersecurity space in Nigeria.

The company rewarded winners of the Cyberchain Hackathon program as part of activities for the 2021 conference and exhibition, held in Lagos over the weekend.

Digital Encode gave out N500,000.00 to reward Team NOHATS, which took the first prize; Team LYTES, the first runner-up, received N300,000.00 and Team KURUPT68, the second runner-up, took home N200,000. The third and fourth runner-ups – C7ROW and SECACE received consolation prizes too.

Speaking shortly after the prize presentation ceremony, Co-Founder/CVO, Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Peter Obadare, said the teams’ performances during the hackathon were beyond Digital Encode expectations.

“The teams performed very well; even beyond our expectations. We never envisaged the level of response we got. We are very delighted in what we have seen with these teams. They need to be mentored so they can go far in the industry. There are people here who came all the way from Rivers and Niger States. It shows that young Nigerians are hungry for success.

They are ready to put in their best to affect the economy. I am sure that within the next five years Nigeria will have enough cyber warriors to defend the country and businesses,” Obadare said.

He further said results from the hackathon gave the company confidence that cybercrime will soon become a thing of the past in Nigeria, “because we have people that will be protecting the cyber space. So, you are launching your product; be it Fintech, edutech, healthtech, agritech or e-Government platforms, you will do that with the mindset that you will be protected.

“These are young people that would become cyber traitors themselves, but they are putting their skills to good use; working to protect the financial ecosystem and Nigeria’s critical digital infrastructure. We are confident that we are going to do very well in the future,” Obadare said.

Co-Founder/CTO, Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, also expressed delight with the results, adding that the hackathon was part of the company’s means of giving back to the society.
“We believe in the saying that ‘to whom much is given, much is expected’. It is our own way of giving back to the industry and to encourage the younger generation. We know what it means to start, and grow a business in an environment like in Nigeria, ”Akindeinde said.

The Convener of Cyberchain Conference and Exhibition, Jude Ozinegbe, said the world was rapidly transiting from a consumer economy to a prosumer economy and technology is the fastest way to achieving this.
He said whilst undergoing this process of economic transformation from the analogue and paper model to the digital approach, businesses need to also pay attention to the security concerns.

“Cybersecurity plays a major role in the digital economy, and everyone ought to have at least some basic knowledge on how to protect their digital assets from compromise,” Ozinegbe said.