The Federal Government, through its ongoing 3 Million Technical Talent program, has initiated an Innovation Challenge, inviting applications from 6 fellows or teams from Cohort 1 of the program, each standing a chance to win N1 million.
The objective of the challenge is to encourage fellows in Cohort 1 to utilize their technical skills to address societal challenges in Nigeria.
As per the notice issued by the 3MTT team, participants have the option to apply individually or as a team for the opportunity to win the grand prize.
Apart from the monetary reward, participants also have the chance to attend a 1-week pre-incubation boot camp in Lagos, receive equity funding opportunities, showcase their solutions at a demo day to investors, obtain LinkedIn and Azure scholarships, and receive internet routers with 500GB data.
To participate in the Challenge, fellows are required to:
– Explore current social issues in Nigeria.
– Engage with local communities or conduct surveys to understand their challenges.
– Select issues that align with their technical skills and potential impact.
– Clearly define the problem, its affected demographics, and its significance.
– Create a 3–5 minute pitch video and submit their application.
– Apply individually or as a team (with a maximum of 5 members).
The deadline for idea submissions is set for Monday, March 25, 2024, according to the notice released by the program team. Interested fellows can submit their applications through the provided link.
The Innovation Challenge represents one of the several initiatives by the Federal Government to empower participants of the 3MTT program, which aims to train 3 million Nigerians. Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, announced during the launch of the second cohort that a significant number of fellows from the first cohort were being placed into internships nationwide.
Additionally, all first phase fellows are now participating in hackathons within their states to apply their acquired knowledge, collaborate with peers, and develop solutions to demonstrate their expertise.
Furthermore, Tijani mentioned that the government is exploring the possibility of providing unemployment benefits for Nigerians participating in the program.
The second phase of the program, launched on February 29th this year, accommodates 270,000 Nigerians as fellows for the second cohort, constituting 10% of the total 3 million target after the first 30,000 participants.
