Documentation of our experience, learnings, and methodologies used during the Data4Gov Hackathon.
Experience / Learnings:
The 6 days program was such an unforgettable event for all of us. Having experienced the sheer energy in the room, getting familiar with new tools, networking with people from different backgrounds, understanding people that make up the team, finding the right data for our problem statement and keeping up with the pressure of meeting deadlines.
As a team, we relied on each other, because we realized that none of us is as smart as all of us. Every one of us is amazing with a great and innovative mindset, we laughed together, brainstormed together, learned from one another and sorted out our differences so well. The motivation that drives us is one of its kind. We believed that no task is too great, no accomplishment too grand, and it takes teamwork to make it work.
We had a fun-filled time, the meals were delicious, cooked with fantastic recipes and everything we hoped it would be. Extremely nice caterers, kudos to them!
The atmosphere was welcoming, the environment was conducive with access to free Wi-Fi that enhanced our research processes. Also, we met various experts from different fields who guided and gave us the necessary information and assistance whenever we needed them.
The introduction into the program was perfect and well explanatory, we were given a list of themes from different social sectors to choose from ( Transportation, Health, Education, Agriculture, Gas, Urban and Regional Planning, Accountability and Civic Engagement). We were also provided with useful websites and resources like Kobo360, grid3.gov.ng, Lagos Bureau of Statistics that we could get data from. The links to the resources were made available on cchubnigeria.com/datahackathon/.
We appreciate the facilitators and experts for providing us with adequate information and tools needed to come up with interactive visualization. Some of them took their time to have a chat with us and told us the areas to focus on. This gave us insight and direction on our problem statement, and we are grateful for that.
Every moment was amazing as anticipated.
Methodologies:
Initially, we started with two ‘sectors’ in mind; Transportation and Health. After a long session of brainstorming and researching, we picked Transportation from the listed themes, because we found out that it is one of the prominent problems faced by most Lagosians.
Understanding the problem:
As we have it, Lagos the undoubted commercial nerve center of the country with a dense population had joined the league of the world’s megacities. with a present population of over 20 million.
Associated with this mega city status are urban problems and one of the leading problems is Traffic Congestion and Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs).
Although Lagos is the smallest state in Nigeria in terms of landmass, it remains the most populated state in Nigeria. and commuting within the state can take the same duration as traveling to Warri in some extreme cases.
Imagine after a stressful day at work you end up spending more than three hours in traffic for a trip that probably could have been less than 20 minutes barring any unforeseen circumstances.
To put it rather mildly, some commuters do spend close to one-fourth of their whole day in traffic. Traffic congestion leads to many problems for Lagosian. People have been fired from their jobs, many lives have been lost and some persons lives have been placed on a standstill due to Lagos traffic yet every effort to reduce traffic congestion in the city has been to no avail. The stress Lagosians undergo in traffic daily is even reflected in their attitude and reaction towards other people in cases of dispute.
No doubt the traffic situation in Lagos state is a very critical and disturbing problem faced by the masses and the Government has not been able to find a solution to it.
However, The Data4Gov Hackathon Program has done a lot of work in bringing people like us together to critically evaluate the root cause of problems faced by Nigerians and see ways in which we can help the government come up with effective and efficient solutions to solve these problems. We are thankful for an opportunity like this.
Defining our problem statement:
After carefully understanding the problem, we then used the Design Thinking Process and some other effective approach to come up with our problem statement and also review our assumptions. and as a result of much deliberation, we had “HOW MIGHT WE ELIMINATE TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN NIGERIA” as our Initial problem statement and “HOW MIGHT WE ELIMINATE TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN LAGOS STATE” as our Broad problem statement, and “HOW MIGHT WE REDUCE TRAFFIC CRASHES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS” as our Narrow problem statement.
Data Collection:
Knowing well that accurate data collection is the first stage in the research process and critical part of the problem we are trying to solve, it was our major challenge. However, we figured out how to combine the data at hand such that it leaves no room for ambiguity.
We collected from Researchgate.net- Road Traffic Accident Variation in Lagos State Nigeria. Lagos Bureau of Statistics, Transport Statistics 2017 and National Bureau of Statistics, Road Transport Data 2017.
Data Analysis:
After collecting the data above, we made use of R-Studio to train and study these data, (R -Studio is a programming tool used by data scientists to analyze data).
The study has brought into focus the causes of traffic crashes in Lagos State generally. We further narrowed down our focus and concentrated on four local government areas within the state, selecting (Ikeja, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Lagos Mainland Lagos Highland) as case studies.
Data Visualization:
Several studies were conducted concerning the cause of traffic crashes in Lagos state and some of its Local Government Areas. And we can present the visualization using chart.js and ArcGIS.
Conclusion:
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we will apply the best of ourselves to this challenge.
Thank you.
