The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has organised a hackathon to float indigenous ideas for the implementation of the Data Protection Law.
The hackathon, being the first edition, was part of activities to mark National Data Privacy Week, celebrated from January 28 to February 4, and targets higher institutions’ undergraduates.
It was in collaboration with the Nigeria Computer Society, the ISACA Abuja Chapter, and the Innov8 Tech Hub, titled “Privacy-First Solution: Integrating Data Privacy by Design.”
Dr. Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner of NDPC, said the week was mapped out in line with Global Privacy Day, celebrated on January 28, aimed at creating awareness, capacity building, and solutions to drive development in the data privacy sector.
The Nigeria Data Protection Commission organised her first Code4Privacy Hackathon themed “Privacy-First Solutions: Integrating Data Privacy by Design.” as part of the National Privacy Week 2024 activities.
The National Commissioner/CEO, NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, pic.twitter.com/0Lj3xqevDZ— NDPC Nigeria (@ndpcngr) February 2, 2024
He recalled that the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) was signed in June 2023, and there was a need to engage in policy dialogue and look at emerging issues around the law for proper implementation.
“We are having hackathon for the first time and we are trying to look at indigenous solutions that can address some of the challenges in implementing the law.
“We are looking at challenges in terms of the law itself, investigations, reporting, self-assessment, evaluating the applications from the hackathon, see if they are in compliance with the data privacy standards.’’ He said.
Olatunji expressed excitement over the level of performance from the students, saying that the efforts of the government in educating people on data protection were manifesting.
He said the hackathon winner would be announced at the anniversary dinner and awards night of the commission on Feb. 4.
According to him, we will take them up, look for places to incubate them, and work with them in a way that will be beneficial to them and the government.
“From there, their solutions can become global brands that address the issue of privacy globally and that is the level we are trying to take them to,’’ he said.
On the level of data privacy compliance, Olatunji said it was a continuous process, adding that data privacy compliance among public institutions was getting better by the years.
Mrs. Chidera Ike-Okonkwo, Head of Innovation, NDPC, said the hackathon was designed to engage the students in a competition that challenges them on privacy-enhancing technologies to develop the sector.
Also Read: NDPC opens applications for Code4Privacy hackathon
Ike-Okonkwo said the competition began on January 8, with over 100 applications received across the country.
She said that after the selection process, three teams emerged for the final competition, where they pitched about their solutions and the security infrastructure behind them.
“We are really impressed about the performance because we had so many people who applied for the competition and they came up with brilliant project ideas,’’ she said.
Halleluyah Oludele, Team Lead for Privalon, one of the hackathon groups, said they presented “ChainVote Solution’’, a solution that was targeted at solving the problem of identity management in the voting system.
Oludele said they were motivated to work on the project because the solution could be applied in any sector through the decentralization of data.
One of the judges for the hackathon, Mrs. Favour Femi-Oyewole, Group CISO/Data Protection Officer of Access Bank, said the diversity among the students projected the niche data protection ecosystem could provide for anyone.
According to her, our university students are vested with a lot of knowledge that the government and private sector can tap into.
“I want to see more of this competition where university students are exposed to it and suggest ways we can leverage and move forward in the country,” she said.
The three teams consisted of Nile University students (Team Cognito), students from the Mechatronics and Software Departments, and University of Abuja students (Team Liitee), made up of sociology students.
The third group were students from the University of Ibadan, Team Privalon, which comprised medical science and computer science students.
The winner of the hackathon would be announced at the anniversary dinner and award night of NDPC on Feb. 4. The prizes would be N750,000 for the first position, N500,000 for the second position, and N250,000 for the third position.
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