Zeena Platform and Power Bits Crunchers emerged winners at the recently concluded Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon. Zeena Platform won in the software category while Power Bit Crunchers won in the hardware category. There were 274 entries and 10 finalists for the hackathon.
The 10 finalists were: 5 finalists from hardware category – Cosmo Automation, Smart Energy, Techwizard, Power Bit Crunchers and Gadozz Electricals, while the 5 shortlisted software finalists were: Vectorians, Zeena Platform, Magnitronics Chosen, Soft Tech and Gideon.
Each winner went home with N5 million each, rather than N3.5 million earlier earmarked. The Lagos state Governor chairman, MOMAS Electricity Meters Manufacturing Company Limited and Bunmi Akinyemiju, CEO, Venture Garden Group, all contributed N1 million each to raise the total prize money from N7 million to N10 million.
Representatives of Team Zeena Platform, Oluwasemi Oreoluwa and Adenitire Ayonikun, said that their smart meter software solution could fix tariffs and usage restrictions to guide electricity consumption by users, adding that administrators can control pricing, check working meters, energy consumption and perform oversight functions.
Olonma Ibrahim and Peter Okonma of Power Bit Crunchers, winners in the hardware category team, explained that their prototype smart meter can be monitored and controlled remotely, with additional tamper-proof functionalities which protect against bypass and other fraudulent activities
The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon 2020 is an initiative of the Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources, in collaboration with Eko Innovation Centre, aimed at addressing the metering gap in the State and Nigeria.
At the finale, Governor Sanwo-Olu promised that his administration would continue to support the initiative and that the outcome of the programme has inspired the desire to do even more to drive local capacity and find homegrown solutions, while taking advantage of global opportunities to solve more challenges.
