Tuesday, 19th March 2024
To guardian.ng
Search

Nigeria’s first innovation policy hackathon holds in Abuja, Lagos

Entrepreneurs, investors, students, and public sector officials are meeting in Lagos and Abuja on the 20th and 22nd of March 2018 for Nigeria’s first public policy hackathon to brainstorm ways in which the regulatory environment for innovation and entrepreneurship could be improved across Nigeria. Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and its largest economy, is home…

Entrepreneurs, investors, students, and public sector officials are meeting in Lagos and Abuja on the 20th and 22nd of March 2018 for Nigeria’s first public policy hackathon to brainstorm ways in which the regulatory environment for innovation and entrepreneurship could be improved across Nigeria.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and its largest economy, is home to a thriving and fast-growing technology industry and startup scene.

The aim of the Policy Hackathon is to boost the entrepreneurial environment even further by engaging innovators to support Government in developing innovative public policies to accelerate domestic innovation, entrepreneurship and youth employment.

Participants will identify opportunities to improve the regulatory environment and relevant Government interventions to create an enabling environment for business growth and technology development. The findings collected from the workshops in Lagos and Abuja will be drafted into a white paper and shared with key officials and politicians.

The Policy Hackathon is being made possible with support from “Make-IT in Africa”, in conjunction with i4Policy, Civic Innovation Lab and Impact Hub Lagos.

i4Policy works with innovation communities and governments across Africa. In 2017, i4Policy conducted policy hackathons in Rwanda with Impact Hub Kigali for the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Government of Rwanda incorporated the policy solutions developed by the private sector and youth directly into its next seven-year national strategy for private sector development and youth employment.

The current Nigerian political leadership has shown an increased interest to engage with entrepreneurs and an openness to incorporating their innovative ideas in Government. Dr Amina Sambo, the National Coordinator of the Office of ICT, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), under the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has conducted several stakeholder consultations since assuming leadership of the agency. Dr Sambo will participate directly in the Abuja Policy Hackathon.

0 Comments