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Stakeholders harp on ICT gains, development at eNigeria 2014

By BusinessNews Staff on November 21, 2014

Stakeholders who gathered at this year’s ongoing eNigeria Forum in Abuja, have listed the gains and development that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has brought to Nigeria in the last few years.
With the theme: ‘Creating Market Opportunities for Indigenous ICT Products and Services’, the eNigeria 2014 event focused its discussion on how to empower technology start-ups and young entrepreneurs with technology tools.
Welcoming participants to the event, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack, noted that eNigeria had evolved to become Nigeria’s most viable annual information technology summit organised by NITDA adding that the conference will continue to be a platform for ICT awareness creation, developing appropriate framework and setting goals for best practices in order to encourage appropriate positioning of Nigeria in the global information society.
“Nigeria’s ICT sector has continued on the growth path contributing over 10 per cent to the nation’s growth domestic product. In the area of job creation reports say an average of about 12 million jobs have been created by the sector in the last two years,” Jack said.
The former Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Turner Isoun, said: “Government has been on the right track in creating a veritable platform for the growth of ICT in the country.” He however lamented the poor penetration of broadband internet access, and explained that wealth is in data as voice has been overtaken by data communication. Isoun revealed that Nigeria is currently testing the KA band transmission this will bring broadband access to the remote areas in Nigeria. It’s one of the most advanced of satellite technology, he said and called on the private sector to be more positive about Nigeria and imbibe the culture of collaboration with government for the purpose of a well rounded growth for Nigeria. “The private sectors must embrace shared value, win win and cooperate with government to create job,” Isoun said.
The keynote speaker, a US based automobile and industrial designer, Mr. Jelani Aliyu, said: “Nigeria is in an interesting and very decisive moment in the nation history, and we must not underestimate the amazing power of human imagination.” He called on Nigerians to rewaken the humanity in them that stands them out in the comity of the nation.
With particular reference to Asia, Aliyu challenged Nigerian government to strive to move the country from a consuming economy to a production and manufacturing focused one.
Aliyu noted that although Nigeria has infrastructural challenges, the country could still leverage advance technologies to achieve greater heights in the nation’s manufacturing sector. “Our solutions must be tailored to meet the specific needs of the country,” Aliyu said.

[ThisDay]

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