Chidube Ezeozue, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate student has devoted his time to help alleviate the frustrations witnessed by Nigerians over the epileptic power condition in the country. Rather than complain endlessly about the situation this brave man has decided to take the challenge squarely.
Since his admission to MIT in 2011, Ezeozue — who received his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Nigeria in 2008, followed by three years of work at a software startup — has created an app, with his brother, that crowd sources information about power outages in Nigeria. With the app, called NepaSituation, people living in Nigeria can report outages. This data, when merged into an algorithm developed by Ezeozue, can help Nigerians predict when power outages may strike their neighborhoods, and how long those outages might last.
According to the MIT journal "with the app, called NepaSituation, people living in Nigeria can report outages. This data, when merged into an algorithm developed by Ezeozue, can help Nigerians predict when power outages may strike their neighborhoods, and how long those outages might last".
Speaking on his innovation, Ezeozue stated: “Electrical outages are a huge problem in Nigeria,” says Ezeozue, who is pursuing dual master’s degrees in MIT’s Technology and Policy Program and in electrical engineering and computer science. “The outages really interrupt everyday life. With over 100 million cell phones in Nigeria, we knew it was an important resource we could tap into,” Ezeozue says. “It took a while to come up with this algorithm, because the outages are pretty randomized, and the app is only as good as the number of people who enter outage data.”
Chidube Ezeozue has gone a step further by working to address Nigeria’s chronic energy shortage. He started a company SolarKobo, which is working to provide solar electricity to businesses and families at zero upfront cost. The company recently received a seed grant from MIT’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship.
According to Ezeozue; “Nigeria has plenty of solar energy available … for as low as $25 a month, we can make this resource available to those who are interested,” Ezeozue adds.
Ezeozue is a fellow at MIT’s Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship and also researches machine learning and prediction algorithms in the research group of Una-May O’Reilly, a principal research scientist in MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
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