KINGSTON, Jamaica — A data-driven flood-mitigation concept has earned University of Technology (UTech) third-year computer-science student Angel Pinnock the J$1 million grand prize at the fifth UTech/Sagicor Innovation Challenge, staged Tuesday at the Jamaica Pegasus.
Pinnock’s solution, Flood Sense, deploys low-power IoT sensors along critical waterways, feeding real-time hydrological and debris data to an analytics engine that forecasts flash-flood risk and triggers early-warning messages for municipal teams. The platform is paired with Gully Guard, a modular barrier that traps rubbish before it reaches storm drains, tackling the chronic clogging that magnifies Kingston’s flood losses.
“We spend billions clearing gullies after each storm. If we digitise monitoring and intercept garbage upstream, we lower response costs and save lives,” Pinnock told reporters after the awards ceremony.
The idea resonates personally: Pinnock’s grandfather once ran a shop perched above a gully that flooded with every heavy shower. That memory, her mother Tamika Ennis recalls, “kept her laser-focused on fixing the problem instead of accepting it as normal.”
Runners-Up
- Team Blue Print secured the J$250,000 second-place cheque with Street Guard, a LiDAR-enhanced AI surveillance network that flags crimes, hazards, and environmental threats in real time.
- Team Jana captured third place for One Stop Ja, a commuter app providing live bus arrival and occupancy data to help riders and operators optimise routes.
Beyond a One-Day Showcase
Ray St Michael Williams, director of UTech’s Sagicor Innovation Lab, stressed that the Challenge is structured to push finalists across “the last mile” into market launch.
“Investor conversations are already under way for several teams,” he said. “Our role is to broker those partnerships quietly, then step back while the founders build.”
With fresh capital, corporate mentorship, and growing public pressure to modernise Jamaica’s disaster-preparedness infrastructure, Flood Sense now moves from prototype to pilot—positioning a young innovator at the centre of a national resilience agenda.
