ICT innovators to be exposed to foreign partnership at GITEX 2018

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in its continuous efforts to foster the growth of the technology ecosystem, plans to showcase the country’s ICT innovation at this year’s Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX 2018).
This year’s event, scheduled to hold from 14th to 18th October 2018 aims at showcasing the global technological advancements and innovations in the domain of consumer electronics.
Government and private sector technology institutions also leverage on the annual Information and Communication Technology }ICT} trade show, exhibition, and conference that takes place at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
According to a statement by NITDA head of corporate affairs and external relations Mrs.
Hadiza Umar the event provides a platform for accelerating investment-ready startups, expose them to international investors, networking opportunities, partnerships and access to witness emerging technologies that are changing the world.
“Previous attendance has recorded several successes with Nigerian startups coming top in pitching sessions and winning cash prizes as well as acceleration opportunities “Generally, startups have reported encouraging feedback on the effect of GITEX to their businesses.
NITDA’s subsidiary, the Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), coordinates startups’ participation at the event.
“This year, the process started with a call for pitch deck submission from technology and technology enabled startups on 24th July 2018 through our websites, social media platforms, tech and traditional media, broadcast messages and emails to all attendees of previous NITDAs events.
Due to the wide reach of the call for application, over 500 submissions were received.
“The rigorous selection was carried out in three stages with judges drawn from Government MDAs, Technology Hubs, academia, investors, professional associations and the ICT industry.
“In the first stage, idea stage startups were disqualified, resulting into the short listing of 143 startups with technology products or technology enabled enterprisers for the second stage.
“The second stage of the selection was a critical review of the successful stage one pitch decks based on criteria such as innovativeness, the startup is solving a real life problem, business model, traction, competitive advantage and team structure.
In the third and final stage, online pitching was conducted for two (2) startups from each region and the best six (6) startups emerged and represent the 6 geopolitical regions.
The successful startups are: 1.
Arone (SE) -A technology, transport and logistics company to solve the problem of lack of accessibility to medical supplies.
2.
Beepower (NE) – The product allows the use of one single source to power up multiple devices with different power requirements.
3.
Domenium (SS)- A solution designed to help police obtain evidence for crimes.
4.
Max (SW) – A technology, transport and logistics company that makes moto-taxis safe, efficient, and accessible to users in West Africa.
5.
Off-k.com(NW) –An online platform that helps students conveniently locate and securely pay for accommodation off campus.
6.
Wattlinq (NC) – A power technology with a website which provides services that monitors and manages energy availability and usage in homes.
Umar added that “startups will undergo a one week boot camp with seasoned resource persons in the ecosystem to equip them with state of the art skills to get the best of GITEX

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