The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa CCIE has called on youths in Jigawa State to embrace Information Communication Technology skills because of its strategic importance and necessity to drive the nation’s digital economy.

The NITDA’s boss made the call in Dutse, Jigawa State capital during the flag off of a capacity building training program sponsored by the state government for 1000 youths in the state.

The training which is organised through collaboration between the Jigawa State government, the National Information Technology Agency NITDA, Base University and IDEAS through the Jigawa State Development Agency for Youth Empowerment and Employment, is strategic in the state’s effort to explore more economic opportunities for accelerated development.

While advising the youth in the country to embrace ICT skills for sustainable development and self-reliance, the NITDA boss noted that the world is shifting from paper qualifications to skills and those who want to succeed must key in to it to survive.

He said, “This training of the one thousand youths in Jigawa on skills in emerging technologies will enable the state to recover its lost glory as the leading state in the ICT sector of Nigeria in the early 2000s.”

According to the Director General, NITDA will continue to partner with state governments across the country to expand digital literacy for citizens’ exclusivity in propelling the national digital economy to fight poverty and poverty-related challenges in the country.”

While stressing the imperative of the training which was co-organised by the state government’s Agency for Youths Empowerment, NITDA, Base University and IDEAS Hub, Inuwa described it as strategic to the state’s efforts at exploring more economic opportunity for accelerated development of the state.

Governor Umar Namadi who was represented at the event by the state’s Deputy Governor, Aminu Usman Gumel commended NITDA for its various intervention programmes in the state which cut across many sectors. He noted that they have aided the state to achieve the present feat in less than one year in office.

Other speakers at the flag off ceremony who include the Director General, Jigawa State Agency for Youth Empowerment and Employment Dr. Habibu Ubale and representatives from the collaborating organizations all agreed that providing ICT skills to youths in the state would enhance sustainable economic development.

The training which is focused on five areas with special attention to Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Software developing among others is believed to produce young talents that will take the lead in pulling the string of digital development in the state and the country at large.

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By Abbas Badmus

Baze University, Abuja, has unveiled a remarkable initiative, providing seven professional diploma courses entirely free of charge.

The announcement is made through the official website page of the institution.

Meanwhile, the initiative is made possible through generous funding from the World Bank, aiming to empower individuals with in-demand skills in the ever-evolving technological landscape.

The seven professional diploma courses offered by Baze University cover a diverse range of fields, catering to the growing demand for expertise in cutting-edge technologies.

The courses include:

Professional Diploma in Applied Artificial Intelligence (Hybrid): Enabling participants to harness the power of artificial intelligence in real-world applications.

Professional Diploma in Blockchain Technology: Exploring the intricacies of blockchain, a transformative technology with applications spanning finance, healthcare, and beyond.

Professional Diploma in Business Intelligence and Dashboard Creation & Development (Hybrid): Focusing on the crucial skills needed to analyze and visualize data for informed decision-making.

Professional Diploma in Cybersecurity: Equipping individuals with the knowledge and tools to safeguard digital systems against cyber threats.

Professional Diploma in Data Analytics (Hybrid): Providing hands-on experience in extracting valuable insights from vast datasets using advanced analytics tools.

Professional Diploma in Digital Literacy: Bridging the digital divide by enhancing participants’ proficiency in essential digital skills.

Professional Diploma in Software Engineering: Offering comprehensive training in software development, a cornerstone skill in the rapidly advancing tech industry.

These courses, designed to be accessible to a broad audience, incorporate hybrid formats to accommodate diverse learning preferences.

BAZE University’s commitment to making quality education accessible aligns seamlessly with the World Bank’s vision of fostering skill development for a globally competitive workforce.

Prospective learners are encouraged to seize this unparalleled opportunity to acquire expertise in these sought-after fields, as BAZE University paves the way for a future-ready workforce.

The enrollment process for these free professional diploma courses is set to commence soon, marking a significant step towards democratizing education and empowering individuals to thrive in the digital age.

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TECHDIGEST – In its commitment to implement the Strategic RoadMap and Action Plan SRAP 2021-2024, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has identified Innovation and Entrepreneurship, a pillar in the SRAP document, as one of the driving forces to place Nigeria as a key entrepreneurial country in Africa, and that will become the basis of collaboration between NITDA and Baze University.

Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General of NITDA, made this assertion at the 1st Baze University’s ‘Information Technology, Research, and Innovation week’ in Abuja.

Inuwa stated that NITDA is putting a lot of efforts and resources in ensuring that the bulk of graduates from universities and other tertiary institutions are focused on creating jobs rather than seeking for jobs.

The NITDA boss who was represented by Engineer Yau Garba, the national director of National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, NCAIR, affirmed that the Agency, being the IT regulator in the country, and through the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, NDEPS, is working with startups as key contributors to developing an entrepreneur economy.

Mallam Inuwa noted major subsidiaries of NITDA that cater for entrepreneurial activities are the Office for IT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE) and the Office for Nigerian Content (ONC) which were merged to become Office for Nigerian Digital and Innovation (ONDI).

“We also have the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, whose core mandate is to conduct Research and Development in emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence AI, Drones, Block Chain, Internet of things IoT, etc,” he said.

He added that other activities of the Centre focuses on Capacity Building and Partnerships with relevant Agencies and Universities in areas of national interest that challenge the nation.

Referring to the topic of the session “Challenges and Opportunities of Entrepreneurship Startups”, Inuwa mentioned that the Agency deals with companies that have global impact to solve challenges and create entrepreneur opportunities.

“While the focus is not about profiting”, he explained that ventures like Risk Capitalists and Angel Investors promote businesses that produces substantial number of jobs such as Uber, Jumia and the Nigerian unicorns like Flutterwave and Paystack needs to be replicated as much as possible to ensure a digital economy,” he added.

Inuwa mentioned that the Agency has the support of some international organizations like Japan International Cooperation Agency on new models for incubation and acceleration programmes.

“We have a project called Hives. The idea is to build Centres within the Universities to support students’ and the lecturers’ learning and research development”, he said.

He further noted that the Centre would be based on practical and not the usual courses on entrepreneurship to ensure the promotion of true entrepreneurial activities right from the University towards industrialization.

He charged the students to look forward to being a force in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, adding that “Nigeria must not be left behind, hence, the reason we are looking forward to collaborating with Baze University in search of people who are willing to take risks and scale their ideas to provide jobs and create innovations that would make the world a better place”.

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NEWS DIGEST – The Young Innovators of Nigeria (YIN) on Thursday it was collaborating with Baze University to train 50 children and teenagers in Summer Tech Programmes.

Mr Andrew Abu, the President of the group disclosed this on Thursday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Abu said that the training was targeted at bridging the skill gap among Nigerian youths and the Information Technology industry.

According to him, by training the children who will eventually get into the universities to study courses on Information Communication Technology will help solve the challenge.

“Young Innovators of Nigeria has partnered with Baze University for the 2nd edition of the Kids Code Summer Camp tagged: Summer Tech Programmes for Kids and Teens.

“This is train kids and teens for six days in Introduction to Computing, Web Design with Word Press and Robotics.

“This will foster an interest in the minds of the kids and teenagers on innovation and IT related fields.

“This training presents the perfect opportunity for children to launch toward an exciting career. They will learn the basic technical skills by working in team solve problems,” he said.

Abu said other programmes include Django Girl’s Python programming training, Startup Arewa Capacity building programme.

He encouraged interested children to register is on: http://www.yinigeria.com.ng/news.    (NAN)

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