Winners Emerge At Secure Hack 1.0 As Stakeholders Chart Course for Security @Eko Innovation Centre

Three teams emerged as winners at the grand finale of the SecureHack 1.0 event held at the Eko Innovation Centre, yesterday.

L-R: First Keynote Speaker, Oluwasolape Akinde, Head Governance, Risk and Compliance, Seven Up Plc.; Dr. Obadare Peter Adewale, Co-founder, Digital Encode Limited (Final Juror); Victor Afolabi, Founder Eko Innovation Centre and Curator, SecureHack 1.0; Ayodele Olojede, Group Head, Emerging Businesses Africa, Access Bank (Final Juror) and, Imeh Udofia – Chief Security Officer, Leadway Assurance Company Limited (Second Keynote Speaker) at the Grand Finale of SecureHack 1.0 held at the Eko Innovation Centre, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Saturday, April 15, 2023.

The hackathon which was launched in February, garnered over 400 registrations from participants to form 100+ teams from 62 locations in four countries and across two continents.

The grand finale of the hackathon had in attendance innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and security professionals and many others across the world joined the event virtually.

In his welcome address, Victor Afolabi, Founder of Eko Innovation Centre and Curator of SecureHack 1.0, emphasized the importance of cybersecurity and the need for innovation in addressing security threats.

He highlighted the five most efficient cyber defenders: Anticipation, Education, Detection, Reaction, and Resilience. “Security threat is much more than an IT topic and we are doing our bit the Eko Innovation Centre to drive the growth of this ecosystem,” he said.

Keynote address presented by Oluwasolape Akinde, Head, IT GRC & DPO, Seven-Up Bottling Company Limited.

He spoke on the topic, “Strengthening Cyber Security in Africa’s Emerging Digital Economies”. He spoke on the challenges facing cyber security in Africa’s emerging digital economy, best practices for strengthening cyber Security, collaborations and partnerships.

He said, “Collaboration and partnerships allow for the sharing of information and expertise, pooling of resources, and coordination of efforts to address common cybersecurity challenges.

“Overall, emerging technologies such as blockchain and Al have the potential to significantly improve cybersecurity in African countries. By leveraging these technologies, organizations and governments can improve data security, detect and respond to threats in real-time, and prevent fraud and money laundering.

“However, it is also important to be aware of the potential risks and challenges associated with these technologies, and to implement them in a responsible and ethical manner,” he said.

Yet another security expert, Imeh Udofia gave a presentation on Cyber-Physical Security, speaking  with on the following: Cyber-Physical attacks: An emerging threat; Cyber-physical attacks: Preventive controls; Layers of Security and Components Of Physical Security, among others.

The event’s highlight was the pitching of ideas by finalist of the hackathon who had emerged from a process that saw teams split into groups of four and were required to work together for three weeks, brainstorming and ideating new concepts based on their focus areas which include cybersecurity, physical security, and biosecurity.

At the end of the process, Team Nexa comprising Peter Adesina, Idris Tijani, Robinson Uche and Muhammed Musa came third in the competition to cart home the sum of N350,000 while Team Cyber Verse  comprising  Osonuga Steven and  Akorede Rasaq clinched the second place position  to win the sum of N650,000.

Team HealthWaka comprising the trio of Omolola Oluwadara, Product development manager;  Kehinde Abolaji , Technical Lead and  Ozemhoya Anthonia, Biologist, beat allcomers to emerge overall winners of the competition.

They also won the grand prize of the hackathon which is the sum of one million naira and an acceleration programme investment of up to $50k equity Investment to get their products ready for the market among other benefits.

During the entire process, 31 selection jurors selected top 10 innovative solutions from 26 teams that pitched. The teams were subjected to coaching, and mentorship for two weeks.

Speaking on the pitching process among other things, Ayodele Olojede who is the Chief Juror of the Hackathon and  Group Head, Emerging Businesses , Africa Bank Plc., said, “The underlining factor we looked at among other criteria was that “Civic good”. So, you are able to come up with a solution you can make money with and at the same time, you are solving a challenge that could benefit the society.

“We looked at how great the contestants’ ideas were and also checked if there is a team that can progress this, we looked at quality of the delivery, how they responded to questions and also looked at their business models,’’ she said.

Eko Innovation Centre is one of the leading tech hubs in Nigeria, curating events like Art of Technology Lagos, and The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon amongst others.