The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has challenged young innovators to develop homegrown technology capable of removing barriers limiting Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) from accessing digital services.

The Commission made the call at the fourth edition of the NCC Hackathon Live Show 2026, held in Abuja on Wednesday, with the theme, “Technology Without Barriers: Innovative Solutions for Persons with Disabilities.”

The two-day event brought together 20 contestants to develop practical and scalable digital solutions aimed at improving accessibility for PWDs and other underserved groups.

The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, said the hackathon was more than a technology competition, describing it as part of the Commission’s effort to build a digital society in which technology serves everyone.

Represented at the event by the Director, Zonal Operations, Usman Malah, Makama said the initiative was designed to promote indigenous technological development while ensuring that digital transformation remained inclusive and accessible.

According to her, the true measure of technological advancement should not be limited to sophistication but also to its ability to improve lives, create opportunities and enable all Nigerians to participate meaningfully in the digital economy.

The Commission identified access to communication services, education, healthcare, financial services, employment and government platforms among the areas where PWDs and underserved communities continue to face barriers.

Makama urged participants to focus on solutions that are affordable, easy to use and scalable, rather than simply developing sophisticated products.

“Do not simply focus on developing impressive technologies. Focus on creating solutions that are simple to use, affordable to deploy, scalable across communities, and capable of improving the quality of life of millions of Nigerians,” she said.

In her remarks, the Director, Digital Economy Department, NCC, Helen Obi, said the Commission was particularly interested in solutions that could function in low-bandwidth and offline environments.

Obi explained that the objective was to ensure that access to digital services would not depend entirely on the availability of strong internet connectivity or the possession of sophisticated devices.

She said the innovations being developed by the contestants included artificial intelligence-powered speech-to-text tools, real-time sign language translation, voice-based complaint systems, accessible customer-care platforms and USSD services designed to work on basic mobile phones.

Other areas of focus, she said, included image-to-voice navigation, environmental description tools and inclusive employment platforms designed to connect PWDs with job opportunities and targeted hiring programmes.

The fourth edition of the hackathon was restricted to innovators resident in the Federal Capital Territory, with participants drawn from software development, design, research, academia and entrepreneurship.

Obi said the eligible participants were young innovators between 18 and 35 years, including software developers, designers, researchers, students, entrepreneurs and PWDs.

She explained that contestants were expected to produce functional prototypes, conduct live demonstrations and present business models, market strategies, technical architecture and pitches.

The solutions will be assessed based on innovation and creativity, accessibility and user-centred design, relevance and impact, technical feasibility, scalability, affordability, sustainability, indigenous value addition, quality of presentation and demonstration, as well as team capacity and execution potential.

Obi also disclosed that the Commission’s Digital Economy Department had internally developed a software application to enable judges to score contestants in real time.

She said the initiative aligned with the NCC’s mandate under the Nigerian Communications Act to promote universal access to communication services, irrespective of location or physical ability.

Beyond the competition, the Commission said it expected the hackathon to generate homegrown ventures, promote local intellectual property, strengthen public-private collaboration and create opportunities for promising innovations to be developed, piloted and scaled.

The event also seeks to deepen cooperation among government, industry, academia, investors and the wider innovation ecosystem in addressing Nigeria’s digital inclusion challenges.

The NCC said the focus on PWDs was part of its broader commitment to ensuring that digital transformation does not leave vulnerable groups behind, stressing that technology should remove barriers rather than create new ones.

The Commission further encouraged innovators to develop solutions that respond to actual Nigerian conditions and can deliver sustainable value to communities beyond the hackathon.