TECHDIGEST – The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE has challenged the Nigerian tech innovators and entrepreneurs to identify problems bedeviling the nation with the view of proffering solutions because the government has provided level playing field for them to achieve that.

Inuwa stated this at the Day Three of the Digital Nigeria International Conference 2022 holding Abuja. 

He noted that for Nigeria to succeed, the tech ecosystem needs every stakeholder on board to play their roles as required of them. 

“To build a very strong tech ecosystem, we need the government, the higher institutions, we need the entrepreneurs, the risk capitalists and corporate organisations everybody has its own role to play”.

He stated that the government is playing its role by creating a level playing ground by formulating policies, legal framework, regulations and intervening in providing infrastructure to the underserved and unserved communities reiterating that the government is doing more than enough in these regards.

READ ALSO: Inuwa and NITDA’s golden era

“The government needs you, needs your commitment the same way the government is committed. 

“For the higher institutions, we need you to produce high quality education to the people because innovation, digital economy or knowledge-based economy are all human capital economy.

“Your greatest resources are not the mineral resources but it is what you have in your brain; we need higher institutions to produce the right skill, talents and people with entrepreneurial skills”, Inuwa noted. 

He claimed that the government is doing more than enough in terms of building the human capital and this is beyond conventional educational system,” adding that the government has several initiatives to achieve the 90 per cent digital literacy which would go a long way in building the tech ecosystem. 

“We need the number. We need people to have skills to use in the digital based technological environment and that is why we are training people on high earned skills to build the digital service because digital service is a product-based economy”.

He listed part of government initiatives to include the partnership between Nigeria government and Microsoft to train 5 million Nigerians, the partnership with COUSERA to train 24,000 and several others which aimed at positioning Nigeria to be the global talent factory. 

“One of the digital prints we need in the ecosystem is the legal framework. Just last week the President signed the Nigeria Start up bill into law so all these is to level the playing field for you.

“For the entrepreneurs, now you have the playing field; it is left for you to take your ideas from invention to impact and in Nigeria and even Africa in general, we have a lot of problems awaiting solutions. And technology can serve as inspiration for you to solve these problems so all you need is to explore how you can solve the problems and impact lives”, he said.

While decrying the imbalance in the distribution of global wealth and prosperity, Inuwa maintained that with the thriving tech ecosystem, the imbalance would be corrected. 

He added that successful countries have three things in common which are innovation, entrepreneurship and good ecosystem because nobody succeed in isolation.  

“Even in Nigeria, if you look at the ecosystem, Lagos alone is contributing almost one quarter of the Nigerian Gross Domestic Products, (GDP) and when you talk about the tech ecosystem, it attracts more than 50 per cent; so why?”

He however, sued for the replication of the feat in all other parts of the country. He said, “We can build this kind of ecosystem across the country because every part of the country has its strength and weakness. If we can leverage on the strength, we can build the same ecosystem to build prosperity because innovation is the only thing that can lead any nation to prosperity. 

The Day Three of the International Conference which was tagged ‘Start-Up and Innovation Ecosystem Day’ witnessed various enthralling discussions with the lead speech on “Innovative Ecosystem and Investors’ Perspective” which was presented by Satesh Elwani the managing Director Melsons Group.

The panel sessions focused on ‘Building a Thriving and Sustainable Start-up and Innovation Ecosystem for Nigeria’s Digital Economy’; ‘A tent Approach to Addressing the Talent Gap Issues’; ‘Exploring the Funding Opportunities for Nigerian Start-ups’ and ‘Unlocking Nigeria’s Innovation Potentials for Economic Growth and Prosperity’. 

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TECHDIGEST– If newly-established start-ups must weather the storm and break even in the country’s Information Communication Technology, ICT, sector, they need to recruit only capable hands at their formation stage.

This was the position of the speakers of a panel session at the 2022 DigitalNigeriaDay Conference and Exhibition, in Abuja.

READALSO: NITDA Wants Tertiary Institutions to Produce Tech Savvy Graduates

The panelists, comprising ICT firms’ CEOs and seasoned tech experts, spoke on “Exploring Funding Opportunities for Nigerian Start-Ups”.

Lead Speaker of the session, Gbemi Akande, Managing Partner, Pacer Ventures, advised creative youths, who wish to launch their own ICT start-ups, to immediately assemble the necessary human resources, after they have raised the needed capital.

He said: “Every kind of company needs the right people at the right time, for things to work efficiently.

“Once a founder of a start-up is able to recognize this, his or her company will thrive successfully, in our fast-growing ICT and Digital Economy market.

“And once a start-up begins to grow, there is a need for the CEO to constantly appreciate his or her tech team, the management team also, together with the front- and back-end developers”.

Another panel member, Adedeji Owonibi, who is the Co-Founder of Convexity Hub, said: “Getting the capital for a startup may not really matter in the tech space. But what it is used for.

“That will determine the success of that startup. There is also the need for young start-ups not to underestimate the power of networking with other ICT firms in the country”.

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TECHDIGEST- The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Mal. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said that the Blockchain Adoption Strategy developed by their NITDA is to facilitate the effective utilisation of Blockchain technology, towards creating a virile digital economy.

He made this known at a panel session during the ongoing ‘2022 Digital Nigeria Conference Exhibition and Awards’ in Abuja.

READALSO: Global Blockchain Market to Hit $39bn by 2025 – Kashifu Inuwa

“The strategy outlines the roadmap and schemes for the adoption of Blockchain technology by the government in the digital transformation agenda; in a way that supports efficiency, transparency, and productivity,” Kashifu said.

According to him, humans have only witnessed the possibilities associated with virtual worlds in science fiction novels, for many years now.

He further revealed that Blockchain digital revolution has several possibilities with broad economic and social implications, saying: “It pushes for the emergence of digital transparency and integrity, leading to extensive changes in business models and governmental functions.

“Innovators are exploring ways to use blockchain technologies to disrupt and transform traditional process models. With its decentralized and trustless nature.

“Blockchain technology can lead to new opportunities and benefits industries through greater transparency, enhanced security, and easier traceability.

“Governments and businesses all over the world have begun to utilise the robust potential usability of Blockchain.

“NITDA is not left behind; we are inclined to employ our statutory responsibility towards innovative technologies to develop strategies for a healthy IT ecosystem that encapsulate emerging technology such as Blockchain”.

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TECHDIGEST – The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isah Ali Pantami, has scored his ministry high in achieving its mandate, noting that the ICT sector has recorded unprecedented achievements for the country’s growth Domestic Product [GDP].

The Minister, who stated this during a press conference to kick off Digital Nigeria Day and United Nations World Development Information Day, said the sector has witnessed transformational change between 2019 and 2022.

He said that the critical role and feats achieved by the sector helped the country to exit two recessions.

“The ICT sector provided 3 unprecedented contributions to the Gross Domestic Product [GDP] of the country in the last three years, namely 14.07% in Q1 2020, 17.92% in Q2 2021 and 18.44% in Q2 2022. At each time, these numbers have been the highest ever contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP.

“Also, the ICT sector grew by 14.70% in Q4 2020, making it the fastest growing sector of the Nigerian economy in the last quarter of 2020 and the only sector to have grown by double digits. This played a critical role in enabling Nigeria to exit recession. Furthermore, the quarterly revenues also generated for the Federal Government rose from N51.3 billion to N408.7 billion, through spectrum sales and taxes from the sector.”

Mr Pantami, while eulogising the Chief Executive officers of the parastatals under his supervision, disclosed that the Ministry excelled at the just concluded ministerial retreat, which was organised by the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

READ ALSO: President Buhari to open Digital Nigeria Conference and Expo

He said the Ministry obtained the highest grades in the 8 ministerial deliverables, in the assessment which was carried out by Foreign, Common Wealth and Development Office [FCDO], UK, and KPMG, among others.

He said, ” Implementation of Broadband Connectivity, 134%; Deployment of 4G across the country, 127%; Digitalising government functions and processes, 99% ; Development and implementation of a National Digital Economy policy and strategy, 103%; Implementation of a digital identity program, 86%; Improvement and optimisation of revenues from all operators and licenses in the agencies under the ministry’s supervision, 594%; active collaboration with the private sector to create jobs, 111%; empowerment of citizens, 137%. The minister disclosed.

Mr Pantami also stated that the Nigeria Start-up Bill, which was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari last week, will significantly improve Nigeria’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem.

He added that the Ministry and it’s parastals have developed 17 policies between 2019- 2022.

“Over 863,372 citizens benefitted from digital skills programmes and we have agreements with leading global companies like Microsoft and Huawei, to train millions of Nigerians”,

Mr Pantami recalled that on assumption of office in 2019, the official broadband penetration figures stood at 33.72% and had increased to 44.65% in 2022. These figures, he said, represent close to 13 million new broadband users.

“Similarly,there were 13,13823 4G base stations and we now have 36,751, representing a 165.86% increase.

“The percentage of 4G coverage across the country also increased from 23%to 77.52 %. Additionally, the cost of data has crashed from N1,200 per GB to about N350, making it easier for Nigerians to connect to the internet”.

The Minister also disclosed that 90 million Nigerians have been issued with National Identification Numbers, adding that the newly established Nigeria Data Protection Bureau has been addressing privacy concerns.

He also said Nigeria has been very active in the emerging technology space and which he said led to the establishment of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence, NCAIR, adding that is was the first in Africa.

He revealed the ministry plans to create a pool of innovation-driven enterprises [IDEs]to accelerate the development of the digital economy in Nigeria.

Speaking earlier, The Director General of National Information Technology Agency [ NITDA], Kashifu Inuwa, said that the DND would be a week-long programme from Oct. 25 to 27.

Mr Inuwa said that Nigeria was ready for a digital economy, as well as transformation, hence everyone should key in.

The 2022 celebration has as it’s theme “Digital Transformation: A Path to Sustainable Digital Economy.’’

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TECH DIGEST- The Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition formerly known as eNigeria International Conference and Exhibitions begins next week Tuesday, October 25 to end Thursday 27.

Organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Digital Nigeria is the flagship awareness programme in the Digital Economy sector.

President Muhammadu Buhari will declare the event opened assisted by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. The Chief Host is Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi,

The annual event was re-branded as Digital Nigeria to further expand the scope in line with the core objectives of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).

READ ALSO: FACAN Set To Onboard 50 Million Members On eNaira Platform

The three day event will be focusing on Digital Transformation, Digital Inclusion, Emerging-technology, Data Protection and National Security. It will explore how policies, human capital, infrastructure, new technologies could impact on national development to foster a Digital Nigeria.

The event will offer opportunity for experts and stakeholders to brainstorm on contemporary issues of relevance across the globe to address Nigerian challenges for sustainable socioeconomic development. Digital Nigeria is a veritable platform for ICT awareness creation, development of the appropriate framework, and setting goals for best practices.

The 2022 edition will include a one-day summit on blockchain technology amongst other activities like the digital Nigeria day and masterclasses.

Discussions will focus on the following sub-themes like Digital Transformation, Data Protection, National Security, Emerging Technologies, Digital Inclusion, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship.

The conference will also provide a platform for networking opportunities, cocreation and collaboration, sharing experiences, mentorship and knowledge circulation, stimulate conversation on emerging technology and incentives and export for tech startup

The event has provision for both physical exhibition space for ICT service providers to exhibit their products and services at the venue. In addition, sponsors and other partners in the oil and gas, energy, and banking sectors will be encouraged to exhibit their products and services. About 25-30 exhibitors are expected to participate in the conference.

The speakers line up include Ray Youssef, Founder and CEO Paxful; Bilal Al Rais, Dubai World Trade Centre; Musa Ali Baba, FSDH Merchant Bank; Franklin Peters, Executive Director, Boundless Nexus Limited; Michael Simeon, CEO, Vpd.money; Dr. Usman Gambo Abdullahi, Director, IT Infrastructure Solutions, NITDA; Dr Rislan A Kanya

DVC IT Research & Innovation, Baze University; Dr Ibrahim Dauda, President PVG Consult; Dr Amina Sambo Magaji, Director, Digital Skills and Capacity Development, NITDA; Dr. Yele Okeremi, Precise Financial Systems Ltd; AYODEJI REX ABITOGUN, Management Edge Limited; Dr Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB); Abdulganiyu Rufai, Co-founder of Telegro

Others are Lorien Gamaroff, CEO, Centbee; James L. Sisneros, Founder & CEO, The Possibility Company; Simit Naik, Director, Commercial & Strategy, nChain; Faith Titus Okafor Mbah, Founder/CEO, Sonergy Data Technologies; Saminu Salisu, Founder and CTO, Bilic.io; Chimezie Chuta, Founder, Blockchain Nigeria User Group; Jennifer Chizua, CEO Startprenuers; Dr Salisu Uba, Founder/Managing Partner, NatQuest  Limited; Nwabishop Tony Emeka, Founder, Crypto Tvplus; and Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim Jega, Co-Founder, Domineum.

Source: ITEDGENEWS

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TECHDIGEST – The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the Implementation of Strategies for the Enhancement of the Quality of Government Digital Technology Projects and Services during its meeting on the 9th of March, 2022.

This followed the presentation of a memo by Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

A statement signed by Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to the Minister, shows the approval will enable the implementation of strategies for the enforcement of the IT Project Clearance by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in accordance with the NITDA Act (2007), and under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

ALSO READ : FG Orders MDAs To Migrate To Nigerian Government Second-Level Domains

The implementation of the IT Project Clearance process is in alignment with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria, as well as the Nigeria Government Interoperability Framework and Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture, among others. Furthermore, it provides many benefits for the country, including the following:

• IT projects are not unduly duplicated;
  the technology being implemented is up to date;
• ensuring that there is an indigenous capacity for after-sales-service to sustain the project beyond its initial deployment;
• supporting the integration of IT systems and services by Federal Public Institutions to save cost, reduce corruption, promote shared services, enable interoperability and improve efficiency;
• ensuring that the technology and services procured are suitable for the country from the point of view of security and the environment, among others; and
• the projects promote indigenous content, with preference being given to indigenous companies where capacity, product or service exists.

The implementation of the IT Projects Clearance process has already recorded tremendous success.

For example, in 2021, there was unprecedented total of 280 new applications for clearance, of which 258 projects were successfully cleared and a total savings of N24,403,266,842.86, estimated at 343.2% increase in savings compared to 2020.

Furthermore, there was also a significant increase in the use of the IT Clearance Portal in the year 2021- a total of 248 new users from 52 Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) were registered on the portal.

“The approval of Council will further enhance the benefits of the IT Clearance process. Council’s approval also mandates FPIs to obtain a Quality Assurance certificate from the NITDA Regulatory Instruments Enforcement Team for any project that is up to N1,000,000,000 (one billion naira).

“As part of the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), the Ministry will continue to position Nigeria to take advantage of emerging technologies in order to transform Nigeria into a sustainable and secure digital economy”, the statement reads.

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TECHDIGEST  – The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called for abstracts for paper presentations at the maiden edition of Digital Nigeria Conference and Expo.

The conference and expo follows the successful launching of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) at the 11th edition of the e-Nigeria conference and exhibition 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Meanwhile, e-Nigeria has been rebranded and repackaged by NITDA and now set to host the ICT industry in Nigeria to witness another phase of growth under the ministry of Communications and Digital Economy headed by Prof. Isa Pantami.

According to online post by NITDA sighted by TechEconomy.ng’s reporter, parastatals under the Ministry, NITDA, NCC, Galaxy Backbone, NIGCOMSAT, NIPOST and NIMC  formed alliance to host the maiden edition of the Digital Nigeria Conference and Exhibition.

Recall that last year Nigerian Government declared every October 24 Digital Nigeria Day, to promote the development of the Digital Economy in Nigeria.

And to Commemorate the 2021 Digital Nigeria Day, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has rebranded its e-Nigeria conference and exhibition to Digital Nigeria Conference and Exhibition and is organising a 5-day conference and exhibition.

Confirming the development, Mrs Hadiza Umar, the head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations of NITDA, said that the Digital Nigeria Conference and Exhibition is a veritable platform for creating awareness, developing appropriate frameworks, and setting goals for best practices in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for Nigeria.

The aim of Digital Nigeria conference, which would be hosted by the Nigerian Communications Commission, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), NIGCOMSAT, Galaxy Backbone, NIPOST and NITDA, is to brainstorm on contemporary IT issues of relevance across the globe and to address Nigerian challenges for sustainable socio-economic development.

The message by NITDA shows that the maiden edition is designed to focus on bringing together the Government, Academia, Tech Ecosystem, Venture capitalists, Corporates, and Entrepreneurs to exhibit the Nigerian talents and chart new ways to achieve economic prosperity through the utilisation of Digital Technologies in Nigeria.

The theme for Digital Nigeria 2021 Conference is: “Digital Transformation: Pathway to Sustainable Digital Economy” while the sub-themes are as follows:

Digital Transformation-Digital policies, human capital, infrastructure, and relevant initiatives as requisites to building digital Nigeria.
Data Protection and National Security NDPR: Evolution and evaluation of data security in Nigeria; Information and insights to harnessing data to solve insecurity problems.
Emerging Technologies Adoption of emerging technologies towards building a Digital Nigeria.
Threats and opportunities of digital currencies for the Nigerian economy.
Digital Inclusion Nigerian digital footprints for digital economic prosperity
Innovation and Entrepreneurship- Innovative exploration in creating digital enterprises; Nigerian start-up ecosystem.
The conference is scheduled to hold between 28th to 30th October 2021, with the President declaring it open.

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