The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it has concluded arrangements to award research grants to the tune of N9 million to three deserving Nigerian start-ups with proposals for adaptable digital solutions for containing the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The commission in a statement released yesterday, said the selection of the three winners followed a careful and painstaking evaluation of 282 entries in the NCC COVID-19 Virtual Hackathon from digital innovation Start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by an evaluation committee set up by the telecom regulator.
“The Executive Vice- Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, has since extended invitations to operators and other industry stakeholders to participate virtually in the Grant/Prize Award ceremony, which holds in the Conference Room of the Commission on September 1, 2020,” the statement read. The NCC noted that the health and economic crises triggered by the novel COVID-19 oandemic had challenged the global ICT community to search for digital solutions to address and contain the spread of the virus.
It added that such solutions would allow citi citizens and businesses to rein in the virus and continue their activities with limited disruptions. “As a response, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) instituted a programme to award research grants to support Startups and Digital SME’s with adaptable innovative digital solutions that could address present and future impacts of pandemic and epidemic-prone diseases in Nigeria.
“Under the programme, the commission will award N9 million research grants to three Nigerian start-ups with the most innovative digital solutions for containing pandemics and epidemics in the country in the thematic areas of health, community, productivity, economy and transportation.