In a bid to fight financial cybercrime, the National Information Technology Development Agency and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission have tasked young Nigerians to develop tech solutions.
According to TechEconomy, the duo will host a 2022 Illicit Financial Flows Hackathon to deploy technology in the fight against financial corruption.
This was disclosed in a jointly signed statement by the Head of NITDA’s Corporate Affairs and External Relations, Hadiza Umar, and the ICPC spokesperson, Azuka Ogugua, on Monday.
According to the duo, the hackathon is projected to allow young Nigerians to deploy their digital skills and creativity to fight corruption and unethical practices affecting the socio-economic fortunes of the country.
Interested applicants are invited to apply before the closing date on August 26, 2022.
The Hackathon is also aimed at developing indigenous solutions to curb illicit financial flows in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, while checking illegal transfer/movement of funds within Nigeria and across international borders and ensuring effective monitoring of procurement processes.
It said, “talented Nigerians will be tasked with coming up with clearly-defined ideas and prototype solutions to checkmate IFFS, with emphasis on leveraging emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud, Big Data, blockchain, Quantum computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR), among many others.”
“The two-day event scheduled to take place on September 1st and 2nd 2022 will open with a boot camp at the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), Abuja, while a Demo Day will take place at ICPC Auditorium, Abuja on the second day and final day.
“Therefore, ONDI is calling for applications from eligible individuals or groups with innovative ideas and prototypes that would leverage emerging technologies to help address the menace of IFFs within the nation’s expanding digital economy.
“ONDI is a subsidiary of NITDA, created to ensure the promotion, growth, and protection of the Nigerian digital innovation ecosystem for the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy.”
“The Office has a responsibility to facilitate the growth of the Nigerian digital economy through the creation of innovation-driven enterprises that will promote job creation and the proliferation of market-creating innovations to create more prosperity for Nigeria,” it added.