Nigeria Emerges Winner At 2015 Technovation Challenge World Pitch

Nigeria Emerges Winner At 2015 Technovation Challenge World Pitch

A team from Nigeria has emerged the winner of the 2015 Technovation Challenge World Pitch held at San Francisco in the United States.

The winning team, comprising four women: Praise David-Oku, Sonam Kumar, Nmesoma Ogbonna and Grace Akpoiroro, developed a mobile app to tackle waste disposal challenge in Nigeria, which they termed Discardious’.

The Founder of Women in Technology in Nigeria and Coordinator of the programme in Nigeria, Mrs. Martha Alade, said that this year’s team was exceptional and has done Nigeria proud.

She also said, Their solution solves a major problem in Nigeria. This is the first time a Nigerian team would come first globally in Technovation World Pitch.

Also, an International Exchange Alumni and Founder of iKapture Networks, who mentored the winning team, Grace Ihejiamaizu, said they faced many challenges on their way to success.

Ihejiamazu said that 64 countries participated in the competition with 380 apps submitted, out of which 10 teams were given the opportunity to explain their projects in the form of pitches and tell the app stories in creative ways.

The girls also attended life-changing workshops including a networking session, she said.

David-Oku, who spoke for the team, said the competition had totally changed their views of technology.

It has given our team a platform to use technology to solve problems in our community. It has also motivated us to think outside the box. It has boosted my self-confidence and helped me build new relationships and networking skills. I have met new people from different parts of the world and shared ideas. It has also made me to realise that I am not too young to start achieving my goals.

Another team member, Kumar, said, It was challenging for us as we met and listened to people from different parts of the world tell their stories and share their powerful ideas.

Above all, we learnt a lot of things about coding, networking and public speaking. It was a very wonderful experience.

Kumar called on parents to enrol their girls in computer programmes at a tender age and provide them technology gadgets for use at home.

Parents need to allow and encourage them to participate in technology competitions and programmes. Encourage them to pick and study science-related courses, she said.

She added, We are going to empower, build and guide young girls to participate in the next Technovation competition. We will launch our app and work on our project to solve pressing challenges in Nigeria. Technovation in Nigeria has come to stay for good.

By Babatunde. O  - July 8, 2015