Team Premier has emerged overall winner of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Energy Hackathon organised by Data Science Nigeria (DSN) and sponsored by NNPC/CNL JV (CNL).
The programme was created for participants to develop Artificial Intelligence solutions for Carbon Reduction in the energy sector.
Three teams emerged as winners of a total cash prize of ₦3 million.
The winner of the grand prize of ₦1.5 million, is Team Premier; the first runner-up (second position), is Team Chemotronix, winning ₦1 million and the second runner-up (third position) is Team Titans, winning ₦500,000.
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.
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.
Mr. Iwueze urged the students to hone the complementary skills they developed during the hackathon in addition to the technical skills they demonstrated.
