It’s been an exciting start to the month here at Nairobi Garage- on Feb 1st, data innovation competition DataHack4fI kicked off with a bang and it was a hoot. Catch a glimpse of the amazing event that took place here (add link to album)! If you are a fintech or data fellow and you missed the launch, dont worry! we have you covered! You can still apply here, applications close on 21st of February 2018!
The Season 2 Launch included two distinguished panel discussions with experts Philip Thigo (Government of Kenya), Dr Kamal Bhattacharya (Safaricom), Dr George N. Njenga (Strathmore University) and Rafe Mazer (The Financial Deepening Trust Kenya) as well as Leading Fintechs Umati Capital, Pezesha,M. Survey and Bitsoko. Amrik Heyer (FSDK) led an informative session that intricately mapped out current trends and opportunities within the data landscape that facilitate growth for fintechs, collaboration with data scientists and partnerships with industry and policy makers. Big data and alternative sources of data were established as a key basis of this competition, underpinning new waves of decision-making, innovation and client insights and analytics in the development of new financial services products.
In case you need further incentive to apply- the winning Kenyan team will be awarded US$5,000, coworking space at Nairobi Garage and will compete in the Kigali finale for the grand prize of USD$25,000 and investment opportunities. The Kenyan Runner up will be awarded with club membership at Nairobi Garage, Pinetree Plaza.
DataHack4FI is an initiative by the insight2impact and supported by Nairobi Garage, Liquid Telcom and FSD Kenya and aims to promote data science and business analytics as a key driver of deepening Financial Inclusion.
Season 2 seeks to build already operational Fintechs and data aggregators capacity to collaborate and use their existing data to drive innovative solutions for financial inclusion.
Successful applications will be expected to attend two meetup sessions held at Nairobi Garage on February 22nd and March 16th to qualify to compete in the incountry finale on April 17th. Over this period, the competing teams will be provided with key insights, expert Data Scientists’ support and mentorship and webinar trainings that strive to support their innovations.
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