Unilag, OAU Students Emerge Joint Winners of InterCampus Machine Learning Competition

…as 2018 Data Science Nigeria AI bootcamp comes to an end

After 90 days of study, quiz, Kaggle and Zindi model competition as well as an intensive hackathon, three Nigerian students from two Nigerian institutions edged out over 10,000 others from 95 schools to emerge joint winners at the Data Science Nigeria – InterCampus Machine Learning competition.

2 @UnilagNigeria & 1 OAU students have jointly won 1st position at @BluechipTechNG InterCampus Machine Learning after intensive hackathon, 90day study, quiz, Kaggle & @ZindiAfrica model competition ahead of 10,000+ participants from 95 schools.

Each won $1,000 + internships. pic.twitter.com/7WXhRPUiq1

— DSN – Data Scientists Network/Data Science Nigeria (@datascientistsN) October 15, 2018

The 3 students: Sadiq Aderinto; Olade Abdulrazzaq (University of Lagos); and Obumneme Stanley (Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun) each won $1,000 and internships from the competition’s sponsor, Bluechip Technologies. The winners were determined after a very competitive hackathon on Nigeria-centric data to explore, extrapolate and explain emerging possibilities in financial inclusion algorithms.

The InterCampus Machine Learning Competition was created to help improve local data science and artificial intelligence capacity. It also aims to enhance the opportunities and employability of Nigerian students through incentives and exposure to advanced knowledge in data science, which is now world’s number one career.

Presentation of $1000 cash Awards to 3 winners of the Machine Learning hackathon by Mr. @OtunbaSho, Co-founder, @BluechipTechNG during Award night of the 2018 DSN #AIBootcamp.Cash award was proudly sponsored by @BluechipTechNG. We appreciate the Mgnt. of @BluechipTechNG for this. pic.twitter.com/NZ8qY9XLTS

— DSN – Data Scientists Network/Data Science Nigeria (@datascientistsN) October 15, 2018

Speaking on its sponsorship of the competition, managing director of Bluechip Technologies, Kazeem Tewogbade said the future of Nigeria should be in the hands of a world-class solution-driven generation.

“Bluechip Technologies believes that the future of Nigeria is to have the cutting-edge knowledge, and we must proactively raise a world-class generation of machine learning experts who can create breakthrough solutions that will transform our country. And this starts by giving them the right knowledge before they leave their higher institutions,” he said.

The Machine Learning competition culminated the six-day intensive Data Science Nigeria AI Bootcamp which held at the Peninsula Resort in Lekki. The bootcamp featured 11 international experts, 6 dial-in tutors and 15 Nigerian industry leaders who helped facilitate the sessions. The sessions include; face-to-face teaching, virtual online classes and a hands-on hackathon using Kaggle.com (through which the 3 winners were chosen).

About Data Science Nigeria

Data Science Nigeria is a non-profit initiative of MTN’s Chief Transformation Officer, Bayo Adekanmbi. He was inspired by a compelling drive to raise a new generation of data scientists and knowledge entrepreneurs. He hopes this new generation will lead high-impact artificial intelligence research for socio-economic development, transformational innovation and economic prosperity of Nigeria and the African continent at large.

About Bluechip Technologies

Bluechip Technologies was established in 2008 to develop a customer-centric approach for delivering data management expertise. This in turn would guide the decision-making capacity of financial, telecommunications, manufacturing, and public sector organizations. Through a suite of innovative proprietary technology products and strategic partnerships with the leading original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and multi-national firms, the company has tripled in size and impact over the past decade.