Abia State Polytechnic has won the maiden edition of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria National Software Innovation cup competition with their Biometric Fingerprint Voting System application.They beat 19 other tertiary institutions across the country that made it to the finals in Tinapa, Calabar.The University of Lagos was the 1st runner-up while, Delta State University, Abraka was the 2nd runner-up.Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, who hosted the competition and was so impressed with the performance of the students, announced additional monetary rewards to all of them. The Abia state Polytechnic team was given N1m; first runner-up N500,000; second runner-up N250,000; and N100,000 to the remaining 17 teams from the different tertiary institutions that contested.In his address, the governor said, This is a very historic moment for us and a proof that there is hope for Nigeria. These young talents have shown us that with little encouragement and the right mentoring we can rule the world.Imoke also announced that the competition would be hosted again by the state government in 2012 but this time it would include secondary schools.The President of ISPON, Mr. Chris Uwaje, was quoted as saying that, No nation can succeed in the new 21st century economy without a framework for constructive investment, incubation, development and mastery of its indigenous software knowledge base.Commenting on the competition, the Head of Panel of Judges, Mr. Pius Okigbo, noted that after almost 10 hours of deliberations, the judges were unanimous in their opinion that the contestants had far exceeded their expectations by presenting exciting, very well thought-out innovations in concept, design and code execution.With the teams separated largely by fractions of a point, he stated, You are all winners and we are proud of you, and Nigeria needs to know what it has stored up in its youth.The Abia Polytechnic team of three was led by Mr. Ifeanyi Anyadike. Other members of the team were Mr. Ifeayichukwu Enyika and Mr. Anslem Nkoro.This is a big boost to our ambition and career objectives. We are more than ever convinced now that it pays to be focused and hard-working. We remain grateful to ISPON and the governor of Cross River State for this opportunity given to us to showcase our skills and talents, the team said.Apart from the cash prizes, trophies, and certificates, the top three teams would be under mentoring, incubation and venture capital readiness training and would have a high-level meeting with the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, at a later date in Abuja.This event was part of the two-day ISPON Software National Conference and Competition. The Conference was attended by more than 750 participants made up of government officials, academia, IT professionals, captains of the software industry, students and gentlemen of the press.The governor hosted ISPON, Minister of National Planning Commission, Alhaji Shamsudeen Usman and the Minister of Information, Laraban Marku, to a state dinner, where both ministers agreed on and endorsed the programme of ISPON on Imperatives for a National Framework for Software Strategy & Development.The competition was organised by ISPON and hosted by the Cross River State Government. The sponsors were the National Information Technology Development Agency, NIGCOMSAT, 21st Century, Zinox, MTN, Huawei, Nigeria Computer Society, Nigerian Communications Commission, Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria and Information Technology Association of Nigeria.
Click here to read full news..
