Nigerian girls to win N3.8m in WITIN program

Martha Alade, the Presdient of Women In Technology In Nigeria (WITIN), has said that winner of the Technovation Challenges 2015 would be rewarded with a cash prize of $20,000 ( approximately N3.8million).

Alade disclosed this recently in Lagos, during a media briefing on the commencement of the Technovation Challenge 2015.

She called on the young Nigerian girls to develop mobile applications that would help solve real-world problems.

Alade also said that as a programme of radiance, the mission of Technovation was to empower young women to use technology to make the world a better place.

According to Alade, in 2014, about 1,500 girls from around the globe developed 362 mobile apps, making Technovation the largest global technology entrepreneurship programme for girls.

"Technovation 2015 is here! Registration is open until February 15. This challenge is open to secondary school girls between the ages of 10 and 18, who would work in teams of five, to develop mobile apps.

"They will conduct market research, write business plans and create a 'pitch' for funding.

"Each team is expected to work with a classroom teacher in their school and a female mentor/role model from the technology industry," she said.

The WITIN President added that the teams would compete in one of two divisions of 'middle class' and 'high class' and top-ranked teams from each division would qualify to travel to San Francisco for the World Pitch.

"At World Pitch, one winner from the middle school category will be selected to win $10,000 and one winner from the high school category will be selected to win $10,000. All teams must register on http://technovationchallenge.org," she said.

Alade said Technovation's mission is to motivate and educate girls and women to solve real-world problems through technology, inspiring girls to see themselves not just as users of technology, but as inventors, designers, builders and entrepreneurs in the industry.

"The girls are taught life skills such as how to identify a problem, design and test a solution, collaborate with a team and communicate to a different audience.

"It reinforces academic concepts such as digital representation of information, algorithmic thinking and programming and the societal impact of information and information technology.

"Over this period, girls will be trained two hours a week to develop a potential solution to a problem and programme a mobile phone application to solve it.

“The app must solve a problem in their local community. This could be a health problem that affects their community, a social problem, or even the lack of a resource," she said.

Technovation is a technology entrepreneurship programme and competition for young women. Through its intensive 3-month, 50-hour curriculum, teams of young women work together to imagine, design, and develop mobile apps, then pitch their "startup" businesses to judges.