By Aduragbemi Omiyale
It has been confirmed that top developers will be at the 2022 Zenith Tech Fair scheduled for Tuesday, November 22 and Wednesday, November 23, 2022, to showcase their technology innovations.
The event, in its second edition themed Future Forward 2.0, will take place at the Eko Convention Centre of the Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, from 8 am to 6 pm daily, with intending participants required to register via www.zenithbank.com/techfair.
The Zenith Tech Fair, which will be live on Zoom for participation and streamed on the bank’s social media pages, including YouTube, was conceived in the mould of global technological events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and EmTech Asia.
Leading technology innovations like Artificial Intelligence, Computing, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Robotics, Big Data, FinTech, Augmented Reality, Data Analytics, 5G and Communication Technologies, among others, are expected to be displayed to participants.
A statement from the organisers disclosed that the event would also feature Hackathon sessions to identify innovative startups, panel discussions, masterclasses and exhibitions.
The two-day fair will feature a welcome address by the founder and chairman of Zenith Bank, Mr Jim Ovia, and opening remarks by the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc and Chairman of the Body of Banks’ CEOs, Nigeria, Mr Ebenezer Onyeagwu.
The keynote address, The Future of Banking: Digital Transformation Journey, will be delivered by Brett King, a renowned futurist, bestselling author, award-winning speaker, founder of Moven and Author of Bank 4.0.
Other eminent IT practitioners who represent top global brands will make presentations are also expected, including Tarik Alatovic, Senior Partner, McKinsey; Juliet Ehimuan, West Africa Director, Google; Ola Williams, Country Manager, Microsoft Inc.; Andrew Uaboi, Vice President/Head, Visa West Africa; Mrs Rakiya Mohammed, Director of Information Technology, CBN; Chris Lu, Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Nigeria, and Ms Adaora Umeoji, Deputy Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, amongst others.
The fair will feature three panel discussions, with the first to examine The future of payments: what next and how can we get there? The host of this is Prof. Yinka David West of Lagos Business School, while the discussants are Agada Apochi, Managing Director, UPSL; Olu Akanmu, Managing Director, Opay; Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director, NIBBS; and Kari Tukur, V/P & Head of Products East/West Africa, MasterCard.
The second panel will explore What are the main challenges of digital transformation in the financial industry? How do we solve them? It will be hosted by Brett King, with Tosin Eniolorunda, Managing Director, TeamApt; Obi Emetarom, Managing Director, Appzone; Dr. Babatunde Obrimah, COO, FintechNGR; and Olugbenga Agboola, Founder/CEO, Flutterwave as discussants.
The third panel discussion is titled Driving the global trade revolution with technology: current transformation trends and will be anchored by Samuel Eze, founder/CEO of Ourpass. The discussants are Mike Ogbalu III, Managing Director, PAPSS; Akeem Lawal, Divisional CEO, Interswitch; Massimiliano Spalazzi, Country Manager, Jumia; and Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji, Director of Trade & Exchange, CBN.
The first edition of the Zenith Tech Fair tagged Future Forward was held on November 27, 2019, at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. It featured a hackathon which produced 10 winners, including Octave Analytics Limited, who won the grand prize of N10 million; Neohaul Technologies, the first runner-up who received N6 million; and reQuid Technologies, the second runner-up who won N5 million. Other winners who took home N1 million each were Termii, Xcard Nigeria Limited, Payonhold, Escrow Inc, Alerzo, Nairapacket and Qview.ai.
Adedapo Adesanya