The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in partnership with Learners Support Consultancy Company has called for submissions from innovators, technologists and other young science enthusiasts to the Nigerian Oil and Gas Technology (NOGTECH) programme.

The NCDMB initiative is the first-ever technology hackathon in the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry and is aimed at fostering innovations in the oil and gas industry as well as creating a platform for the proliferation of Local Content.

The NOGTECH programme aims to address the challenges faced by the nation’s oil and gas industry and its linkage sectors by ideating, developing and prototyping digital technology solutions that solve pertinent problems. The programme will promote innovation by offering seed funding, business mentorship and incubation to the winning ideas. It will also provide an opportunity to create world-class solutions for operators and service organizations within the industry, and other linkage sectors.

The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, revealed in a webinar session in May that “five winning teams will get $10,000 equity-free grants each. They will also get work-space, expert mentors, global partners and unprecedented market access over three-months, ensuring they become commercial and investor-ready.”

He explained that submissions into the programme will be scrutinised based on several factors, including that ”Participants must be a team/company of at least two or more members with at least 75 percent of the founding team as Nigerians. The team/company must be a registered, or intending to register as a profit/business entity.

“The solution described in response to the challenge must be driven by digital technology – Software, Hardware or both.”

He also disclosed that “the solution must either be at the ideation stage, prototype level or a launched solution that hasn’t gained commercial traction. The team must be available to participate in a three-day hackathon as well as a three-month incubation programme, if selected.”

NCDMB is determined to unearth scalable solutions to the industry’s biggest challenges. Some of the identified problem areas include the rising problem of pipeline vandalism, increase in cyber-physical risk, widening skill gap, supply chain and logistics inefficiency, rising carbon footprint and issues surrounding transparency, accountability and civic engagement. These challenges have been identified by industry professionals and academia as the most pressing issues for digital innovators focusing on the sector.

The NOGTECH programme is set to take place over several weeks with the chosen ideas advancing on a stage by stage basis. The first stage involving the call for submission will last for 30 days in which teams and startups are encouraged to submit their ideas. Shortlisted teams in each of the challenge areas will first be invited to present online to a team of experienced entrepreneurs and industry professionals. The most promising teams will then be selected to participate in an all-expense paid 3-day hackathon. During this time, shortlisted participants will have 72hrs to collaborate and build their prototypes or fine-tune existing prototypes with guidance from industry stakeholders, experts and mentors. At the end of the bootcamp, teams will revalidate their solutions and have the opportunity to pitch to a panel of judges.

The team of industry experts, legal veterans and technology enthusiasts will select the best ideas going into the next phase based on predetermined criteria which include: relevance of solutions to presented challenges, domain expertise of the founding team, feasibility and scalability of solution, and uniqueness of solution.

The winning five teams will undergo a 3-month incubation program where each team will get a $10,000 equity-free grant, a work-space, expert mentors, global partners and unprecedented market access to the Nation’s oil and gas industry over three-months, ensuring they become commercial and investor-ready. At the end of the incubation, the teams will participate in a showcase day to demonstrate their progress. This showcase will aim to connect them with investors and industry stakeholders where they can further amplify their market access.

In order to participate, innovators are required to register and fill in the application at www.nogtech.ng on or before the submission deadline of July 14, 2020.