ICT, space technology propel economic development – NASRD boss

The advent of Information and Communications Technologies as well as space technology has brought some revolution to the economies of nations, the Director General, National Space Research and Development Agency, Dr. Seidu Mohammed, has said.

Mohammed said this at the fourth meeting of the Governing Council Board of the African Regional Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in English (ARCSSTE-E) in Abuja on Thursday.

The NASRDA boss said the vast and unlimited benefits of space science and technology had extended to the fields of communication, sustainable energy, education resources and environmental management, food security, defence and crime control and industrial growth.

He said, “To fully utilise the opportunities afforded by space science and technology and their use in promoting social and economic development, and considering the possibilities to enable Anglophone African countries have access to space technology tools, it becomes imperative for ARCSSTE-E’s governing board to be more dedicated.”

Mohammed also urged member countries of ARCSSTE-E to show more commitment to the course of the centre so that it would attain equal height with other regional centres of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Speaking at the event, the Director/Chief Executive Officer of ARCSSTE-E, Dr. Joseph Akinyede, said space science and technology had become an agent of change impacting on the lives of people and nations around the world.

Akinyede said, “With its ability to improve the quality of life over wide geographic and socio-economic areas, space science and technology has become a vehicle for sustainable development.

“The establishment of the four regional centres including ARCSSTE-E by the United Nations was based on this principle. The educational programmes of the centres were developed deliberately to cater for the regions’ interests and the desire for the peaceful uses of outer space.”

He added that arrangements were being concluded to add master’s degree programmes in the relevant fields of space science and technology in collaboration with the Obafemi Awolowo University and the Federal University of Technology Akure.

Source : Punch