o Participants must be of a minimum of 18 years
why ??

Ans: We understand that innovation, particularly in IT, is becoming a norm amongst younger ages. We appreciate this. As a Government Ministry, we have to respect the Nigerian labour law that stipulates 18 years as the minimum age. In a situation where anyone below 18 has solutions that address the requirements, such can team with an older group to pitch for the process. Hope this helps you.

Thanks webdezzi. Sincerely speaking, the winners are not known yet. The FGN is not going to be the selector of the winners. The CIOs of the partners are going to do so. In addition to that, those who are not winners will be accepted into another initiative that is similar to elance. Let me not say so much about that yet, but surely the Honourable Minister for Communication Technology has strong passion for the software developers and she has few initiatives to accelerate their development.

Once again, thank you for the confidence to be part of this.

@webdezz
1. "What determines success here?" The beta solution must fulfil the following requirements:
- Must be innovative and not infringe on any known copyright
- Application and solution documentation must be in English Language
- Solution should not yet have been introduced into the market; but should require short lead time to commercialization (18 months or below)
- Application must be within the stated areas of scope under the following industries: Financial Services and Oil & Gas Industry
The application should be able to address the following scope:
For the Financial Industry
- Analytics(BI)
- Mobility (Payment/Collection)
- CRM (Social Media Aggregator)
- Digital Media (Marketing, Webcast, Subscription)
- Fraud Management
For the Oil&Gas Industry
- Real Time Monitoring
- Repair and Maintenance
- Decision Assistance
- Mobility (Payment/Collection)

2. "With the use of "s" in applicants/developers, how many winners will emerge?" Ans: 10 - 20

3. "Who decides the winners?" Ans: A Selection Committee comprising of the Chief Information Officers of the partners, and other Industry Executives.

4. "When you say "software", that is too vague, this includes web and standalones, platform can be linux, windows or mobile." Ans: It is inclusive of both web and standalone. The solution should be technology agnostic.

Thank you.

The VC fund is available to the start-ups that have compelling solutions with socio-economic values. This fund is not strictly government. Local and foregin venture capitalists are involved. On whether the developer own the software or get paid off for his development time, Techlaunchpad will provide legal services to help developers protect their intellectual property. It will be a mutual agreement between the developers and the industry. You can choose to embrace Build, Own and Operate (BOO) or Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT).

About Techlaunchpad

The Nigerian Ministry of Communication Technology has launched a Technology Innovation Program called Techlaunchpad to accelerate the access to market for the local software developers in Nigeria. With venture capital fund of US$15m (from both government and private investors) to support this program and the other Incubation programs in Nigeria, the Ministry is poised to work with the private sector to accelerate the development of the local software industry.

The Honourable Minister of Communication Technology spoke about this initiative on YouTube at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV4oF37mrog

Techlaunchpad – as an IT Accelerator - is a collaboration between the Ministry of Communication Technology and industry partners to nurture and develop software entrepreneurs/developers who have a vision to build successful software companies that support the Nigerian sectors such as financial services and oil and gas industry. The program partners include Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total, Shell, First Bank, Access Bank, Accenture, Digital Jewel and others.
This first phase of this program seeks existing, new and aspiring software developers (company or individuals) who have beta or almost complete software solution for the Banks, Oil and Gas industry in the areas listed below.
 For the Financial Industry:
o Analytics (i.e. Business Intelligence)
o Mobility (Payment/Collection)
o CRM (Social Media Aggregator)
o Digital Media (Marketing, Webcast, Subscription)
o Fraud Management

 For the Oil & Gas Industry:
o Real Time Monitoring
i. Repair and Maintenance
ii. Decision Assistance
o Mobility (Payment/Collection)

Eligibility of the Solutio[/b]n

 The beta solution must meet the requirements below:
o Must be innovative and not infringe on any known copyright
o Application and solution documentation must be in English Language
o Solution should not yet have been introduced into the market; but should require short lead time to commercialization (18 months or below)
o Application must be within the stated areas of scope under the following industries:
i. Financial Services
ii. Oil & Gas Industry

[b]Benefits to Developers
Successful applicants/developers will be admitted into Incubation Centres in Lagos to develop the full solutions within 6 months. During this stage, the successful applicants will be provided office space, high speed internet access and other office logistics within the 6 months duration of the program. The software developers will be mentored by Chief Information Officers of the partners and other identified Executives to fine tune the quality and industry relevance of their solution to ensure that the solutions comply with international quality and standards, as well as accelerate the launch of the product.

Other benefits to the developers during this program will include:
o Training: covering areas such as software standards, quality, testing methodology and so on
o Access to development tools and testing environment
o Business advisory services: business registration, intellectual property protection, contact agreement
o Funding: operational expenses, providing investor access to start-up capital or venture capital
o Links to industry and strategic partners: Access to functional experts/industry, mentoring & networking
o Technology commercialization assistance: Providing access to the market to enhance fit and patronage

Who Can Apply

 Existing, new and aspiring software developers (company or individuals)
 Nationality
o Participants must be Nigerian citizens
o Participants must be of a minimum of 18 years
o Participants must be available in Nigeria throughout the duration of the programme
o Participants with business entities must be registered in Nigeria with a minimum of 51% local equity (i.e.. At least 51% of the company should be owned by Nigerians)

How to Apply
Eligible individuals and companies are encouraged to apply by submitting an application online at www.techlaunchpad.com.ng/application

Deadline for submission[b][/b]

11:59pm on February 24th 2013

This is not a competition, but rather a platform to allow developers to submit brief story around their business and solution that address specific areas of the Oil & Gas and Banking industry. The selection committee will preview the submission, review the demo, interview applicants and shortlist the solutions that meet the needs of the Oil & Gas and Banking industries. The successful applicants will be admitted into an incubation centre (free office space with high internet speed etc), mentored by selected CIOs of these industries. The CIOs, Accenture, Digital Jewel will work with them to define the full requirements and ensure that the solution is completely built according to international standards and quality. The programme will provide free training, free software testing, business advisory services to the developers. More importantly at the end of the development, the Banks and the Oil and Gas will uptake the solution and pay the developers. That means business for the developers - cost of development, annual maintenance and support cost of the software. This programme sole aim is to create a captive market for the local software developers.

The Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, in collaboration with industry partners (Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total, FirstBank, Access Bank, Accenture, Digital Jewel and others) launched a Technology Innovation Programme - called TECHLAUNCHPAD - on December 10, 2012 at Eko Hotel and Suites to seek software solutions (in beta stage) that can address specific challenges in these industries. Interested software developers with beta solution(s) on Analytics(BI), Mobility (Payment/Collection), CRM (Social Media Aggregator), Digital Media (Marketing, Webcast, Subscription), Fraud Management, Oil and Gas Repair and Maintenance, Oil and Gas Decision Assistance should please submit their expression of interest at www.techlaunchpad.com.ng. Benefits for successful entrepreneurs include:

1. Capacity Building: Growing Local content / Deepening of technology skills
2. Access to the right technology development tools and global standards
3. Links to industry and strategic partners:Access to functional experts/industry, mentoring & networking
4. Cultivating the right ecosystem to foster growth, idea generation and improve solution fit
5. Technology commercialization assistance: Providing access to the market to enhance fit and patronage
6. Funding: Providing investors access to start-up capital or venture capital
7. Intellectual Property Management to safeguard investments

Eligible individuals and companies are encouraged to apply. The deadline for applications for the first round is FEB 24th, 2013 Late applications will not be accepted.

Reference links:

http://www.punchng.com/business/technology/minister-boosts-local-software-capacity-development/
http://allafrica.com/stories/201212110589.html
http://www.channelstv.com/home/2012/12/11/f-g-launches-techlaunchpad-for-young-entrepreneurs/