New Telegraph

Lagos unveils ‘Smart Meter Hackathon, calls for entry

In furtherance of ongoing efforts to address the metering gap in Lagos and Nigeria, the Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources, in collaboration with Eko Innovation Centre, has unveiled a Smart Meter Initiative tagged “The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon 2020” Through the initiative, which is widely applauded as a game-changer, the Lagos State Government will leverage the availability of bright local talents in Nigeria to develop and produce affordable smart electricity meters for consumers.

The initiative is expected to significantly reduce the revenue leakages in the sector and ultimately improve last-mile electricity supply. Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu in his remarks during the unveiling stated that the launch marked a significant milestone in the implementation plan of the state government towards improving access to electricity in the state and it is also in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the UN, which aspires to drive universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all by 2030. He added that increased electricity access was one of the priority mandates of his administration given its significance in ultimately driving economic development of the State to enable it to achieve the objective of making Lagos a 21st Century economy.

“This Lagos Smart Meter Initiative is an important way for the Lagos Government to demonstrate its commitment to improving electricity access and reliability for Lagosians. “We believe that adequate metering of Lagosians and in turn Nigerians would increase willingness to pay for electricity, improve productivity, and more importantly, continue to improve the living conditions of our people.

“Now, as we launch the Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon 2020, we call on all relevant stakeholders – electricity sector players, technology experts, investors, regulators – to support this worthy cause as we strive to ensure sustainable electricity for all in Lagos,” he disclosed. Advisory Board Member, Eko Innovation Centre, Doja Ekeruche, explained that a call for application had been sent out to local talents in the tech community to submit their proposed hardware and software solutions using the guidelines stipulated on the Lagos Smart Meter website.

All concepts will be assessed based on strict but transparent criteria to identify the most viable concepts proceeding to the next stage. Furthermore, she highlighted that “Judges with knowledge and expertise within power and tech ecosystem will review the entries and shortlist teams to proceed to the hackathon event.

“Final winners of the Hack athon, in both the hardware and software categories, will win N7million. They will also be a part of the co-creation phase with other experts, and then proceed to the production and testing stage before the full commercialization of the smart meter.”

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