TECHDIGEST – In an effort to boost research in the academia, civil society organizations and government agencies, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) has trained 25 Professionals, Representatives from Civil Society Organization on data analysis in collaboration with Data Analysis STATA Software.

The Center said, the set of participants which is the 3rd phase of beneficiaries, is aimed at building their capacities in research and management of Data results for effective policies, educational development and programs.

STATA which is a general-purpose statistical software package, is used by researchers in many fields for data manipulation, visualization, statistics and automated reporting.

Speaking to newsmen at the end of the three day training, CITAD Executive Director Engr, Y.Z Ya’u explained that, the program is part of the Centre’s objective to support Academia and other sectors with advance knowledge to analyze data.

READ ALSO: RAIN and Shaping Nigeria’s AI, Robotics’ Future

He said, the participants of the training were pulled from the Academia, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Government Agencies.

Engr. Ya’u further added that, CITAD introduced the training having realized data has become very critical not only for academic purposes but also for public policies.

“When we advertised for entries into the training, we received over 600 applications within 24 hours and we intended to train 40 people”

“We had to screen and select the intended participants to be trained which is done in batches of 40. The first and second batch was a success and today we are rounding up the 3rd Batch with 25 trainees” Y.Z noted.

The Executive Director also lamented that, most of government agencies and institutions they don’t have accurate data for their area of concern, noting that, lack of data will result to inaccurate policies and programs.

Participants who spoke at the event, Zubaida Muhammad Musa, a lecturer with Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, Kano said they have been exposed to the utilization of data for evidence-based policies and research purposes using the STATA software.

“It is an expensive, yet priceless opportunity and knowledge to learn the STATA data analysis software” she added.

Another Participant, Jubril Abdullahi from Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology Wudil, Kano said, they were taken through the rudiments of using STATA for Data Entry, Data Cleansing and Data Analysis.

“The STATA software allows you to input all your statistical analysis into it within a short period of time and helps you to check which data is correctly or wrongly inserted” Jubril Added.

While appreciating CITAD for giving them the opportunity to participate in the training, the participants promised to step down the training to their respective organisations and students.

Other highlights of the event was the distribution of certificates to the participants.

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TECHDIGEST – Civil Society Organizations, experts and stakeholders have made recommendations towards better use of social media in Nigeria and the African continent.

The stakeholders stated their position at the just concluded Pan-African social Media summit held on Saturday at Roses Regency hotel in Abuja, the Nigerian Capital City.

The event had the theme “social media as a tool for media advancement , socio-economic development and Digital economy”.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Director of CITAD who also doubles as the Chairman of the event, Yunusa Yau, noted that the role of the social media in the society has become more important especially with current day realities, he however expressed worry that despite the position of the United Nations on internet being accessible for all, the legislators and government in Nigeria are out to control it. He stated that the instance of Twitter ban highlights such development, he noted also that instead of banning Twitter, the government should have opined on better ways to use the platform.

He stated that the discussion on social media usage in Nigeria continues to play a pivotal and key role in the age and times of the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Image Merchant Promotions Limited, Yushau Shuaib while weighing in on the theme noted that since all other medias are regulated in the country, there is a need to regulate the platform so as to ensure more appropriate use, he stated that it is improper to allow indiscriminate use of social media platforms which endangers the existence and peace of the country. Yushau, a global award winning Public Relations expert also shared ways to verify fake news, use social media appropriately to delegates at the summit.

He spoke also on Social media influencers and Nigerian Unity, highlighting role played by social media users with large followers in spread of fake news and propaganda and need to ensure a control to this misuse.

Executive director of CISLAC, Auwal Rafsanjani, however noted that the social media helps to democratize the country unlike traditional media houses being controlled by the government; he stated that the freewill to use the social media should not be up for governmental control.

Speaking at the event, Chief Executive Officer of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Honorable Abike Dabiri-Erewa who was represented by the Chief Information Officer of the commission, Violet Nwosu, stated that the social media has become an important tool for diaspora and international projection of the country, she urged that the social media be used as a tool to project the success story of Nigerians at the international level and also as a tool for diaspora integration.

The Association of Nigerian Authors President, Camillus Ulah, represented by the Abuja Chairman of the Association, Taiwo Akerele, charged the government to listen to the plight of Nigerians many of which are anchored via the social media, he expressed concern over the gag on the platform which serves as a tool for change. Speaking in same vain, the editor of Youthsdigest, Gidado Shuaib noted that while there has been many clamor for regulation of the social media, the government of the country cannot be the one to do such regulation
Lekan Otufodunrin who is the executive director at Media Career Development Services Network noted that it is harsh for the government to throw away the baby and birth water, referring to suspension of Twitter in the country, he opined that efforts should be made to ensure better promotion on use of the social media.

“If there are clamors for regulation of the platform, the question remains who is the going to regulate it, the government of the day cannot be the one because even without the regulation of social media, they are already regulating us by force”. He recommended more awareness on proper use of the social media while urging Nigerians to go beyond social media to ensure real change.

Alibob Cinwon, who is the organizer of the National Youth Dialogue, also noted that the ban on Crypto-currency in the country would not serve an accurate purpose, he noted that there is a need for the government to align themselves with technological advancement including training on proper use of social media than to ignore the importance especially in the quest for a digital economy.
In his words “If we fail to integrate technology appropriately, it will integrate itself and pass us by”

The special assistant to the Minister of Youth and Sports on ICT and Corporate Relations, Kemi Ann Areola stated that the social media has been used wrongly most times by Nigerians while urging that an appropriate use of the social media be encouraged, she noted that there are more opportunities on social media than cyber bulling and at such more efforts must be made to make Nigerians aware of these.
Other speakers including the founder of Marian Mobile Health foundation, Marian Egbis also harped the importance of the social media.

A social media awareness campaign was launched at the event with the aim to teach more Nigerians on better use of the social media and ensure its use for societal development.

The launching which was led by the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) Executive Director Yunusa Yau, also had CISLAC Executive Director Auwal Rafsanjani, Chief Executive Officer IMPR Yushau Shuaib among other distinguished personalities.
The Pan-African Social Media Summit which started in 2016 as Nigerian Social Summit is in its sixth year, the event was also streamed on Zoom and Facebook platforms respectfully.

The summit which is hosted by Techmirror Magazine was sponsored by Centre for Information Technology and Development, Penlight New Media Center and Media Career Development Network among other partners.

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TECH DIGEST – The establishment of ICT Innovation Hubs in selected universities across the six geo-political zones will boost the digital economy drive and help create job opportunities for young Nigerians, says Dr. Yunusa Z. Yau, Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD).

Dr. Yau made the assertion while speaking with TechDigest.ng on the importance of the National Centre for Digital innovation and Entrepreneurship (NCDIE) established by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja.
He explained that the innovation hubs as important element of the ICT ecosystem would provide the youth new digital knowledge and skills to become job creators instead of job seekers.
He, however, said that more of such infrastructure needs to be developed while effort should be intensified to ease some of the difficulties confronting tech enthusiasts/entrepreneurs in the country.

Dr. Yau said: “So yes, ICT Hubs provide spaces for young digital entrepreneurs, including, mentoring and co-working to unburden start-ups and we have seen a number of exciting products coming out from the NITDA initiative and supported hubs, but they would perform better if the challenges of the general ICT ecosystem in the country are addressed.

“Six centres can make contribution but they are not enough for a country with a population of over 200 million people. We need several of these hubs in each state of the federation as it can help many young entrepreneurs to find their feet in the slippery terrain of business survival’’, he added.

He also called on government at all levels, the organized private sector and development organizations to support the NITDA initiative by helping to replicate similar centres in institutions of higher learning across the country.

The CITAD boss maintained that such strategic partnership between the public and private sectors is necessary to ensure that the ICT innovation hubs contribute the desired impact for growth of the digital economy.

The post ICT Hubs will Generate Jobs, Boost Digital Economy – CITAD Boss appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Dr. Yunusa Z. Yau has identified lack of awareness as the major obstacle facing the implementation of Local Content Policy in ICT Sector.

Dr. Yau, who spoke in an interview with TechDigest.Ng, said despite the effort in enforcement of compliance, NITDA needs to intensify awareness campaigns to enlighten stakeholders across the states on the relevance of the local content policy to the growth of the ICT sector.
He urged the federal government to make it mandatory for its institutions and agencies to be in the forefront of using locally produced ICT goods and services, saying that this would encourage citizens to patronize indigenous innovators.

“The government has to lead in the use and consumption of locally produced ICT goods and services. It cannot tell citizens to patronize made in Nigeria ICT products while it (government) is hooked on made-in-China goods. This action of government will give citizens the confidence to embrace made in Nigeria ICT goods and services.’’
To this end, the CITAD boss called on the government to urgently address the endemic poor power supply, low internet connectivity, and other challenges to enable operators in the ICT sector contribute to the digital economy
“You cannot grow the digital economy using generators. Government has to quickly fix the power sector to provide for cheap, affordable and clean energy to run the ICT industry and use.

“We note that the National Broadband Plan is a good document. But a good document that is not backed by diligent implementation is as good as nothing. Government should implement the plan and help to spread the penetration of high speed internet access across the county. The digital economy can only be possible when there is high speed internet.

“Government has to protect industry from dumping that takes place through the importation of second-hand digital equipment and devices. On a monthly basis, thousands of used ICTs equipment and devices are imported into the country. Many of these are near the end of their life cycle and they quickly become eWaste, turning into an environmental problem for the country.
Dr. Yau further urged the government to implement a national digital inclusion agenda to ensure important segments of the society such as women, youths, people living with disabilities, rural dwellers have access to the digital literacy and opportunities.

The post ICT: Expert Bemoans Lack of Awareness in Local Content Policy appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – Dr. Yunusa Z. Yau is the Executive Director /Founder of Centre for Technology and Development (CITAD) an ICT-focused NGO, and a former lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Bayero University Kano, shares his thoughts regarding the impact of ICT innovation on the economy.

The Vice President, Information Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (ITAN), also talks on the need for collaboration between industry and institutions of higher learning, local content in ICT sector, and other sundry issues in this exclusive interview with Inyene Ibanga and Abbas Badamasi of TechDigest.ng.

Can you tell us the objectives of CITAD as an ICT-focused NGO and, how they impact the digital economy drive in Nigeria?

As an ICT4D organization, CITAD’s overall goal is to see Nigeria leverage the transformative potentials of ICT and change our development trajectory from that of poor underdeveloped country to a developed one. This is consistent with our vision which is building a knowledge-based democratic and self-reliant society.
Specifically, our objectives include: Raising awareness about the use of ICTs in development; Using ICTs as tools for the promotion of democracy and good governance; Propagating best practices in ICTs applications for the development; Campaigning for appropriate national policies on ICTs, Conducting research on ICTs in development; Providing training to disadvantaged groups such as women, children and other marginalized groups on ICTs; Running community computer resource centers for people to have access to computing facilities and Monitoring the application of ICTs in the society.
These all have direct impact to the digital economy drive. For instance, you cannot implement the digital economy without appropriate policies. Similarly, you cannot drive the digital economy without people with digital skills. You cannot get digital skills unless you address issues which make some people not to want to use it. Gender violence and hate speech are examples, which drive away women. This is why we have invested a lot of resources and time in monitoring and combating both gender violence and hate speech online. We have been training thousands of people yearly, contributing to the national stock of digital skill that is needed for the digital economy. We have set up community centres in rural areas so that these digitally marginalized communities could have access to opportunity to learn and use digital technology. We use this to demonstrate the benefits of digital inclusion.

We have continued to work with different partners to showcase various digital technologies and applications with the hope of adaptation. We have encouraged young people and civil society organizations to embrace civic tech which is needed to improve governance and close the gap between citizens and government. All these are contributing to the national ecosystem for the digital economy in the country.

CITAD has come a long way providing ICT training and digital skills to meet the demands of the digital economy especially in the area of entrepreneurship. What is the organization doing to empower our people with skills in digital innovation and entrepreneurship?

Empowerment has become an abused word in Nigeria, so one has to use it carefully. We see politicians bringing environment polluting motorcycles which soon become junk in the name of youth empowerment, we see them training people on skills that are no longer relevant in the digital economy. For us, we see empowerment as transformational process that turns young people from being job seekers to job creators. In addition to digital skills, we give them entrepreneurship training focused on how to set up, run and manage their businesses, how to find and access business support programmes. We provide them with top class mentors to guide them as they navigate their way to founding and running their business. We organize regular business clinics to assess the health of these young enterprises, we interface beneficiaries with business development support, service providers, including accessing loans and grants and we provide to some of them the space to flourish.
We recognize that rent and municipal services rates do inhibit the survival of young enterprises. Therefore, our Hub provides spaces for youth entrepreneurs so that they don’t have to pay for rent, do not pay for electricity and connectivity as well as match them with the market so that they could drive their goods and services to the market place. In the last couple of years, we have trained and mentored over 1000 young women and youth. Many of them are running their businesses now. Many of them have obtained grants and loans and a number have won awards. Some of our products are running successful digital hubs across the countries that are providing support for start-ups.

Recently, CITAD collaborated with NITDA to organize a webinar on Local Content Policy in ICT Sector. Why do we need the local content policy in the ICT sector?

The local content policy in the ICT sector is one of those pieces of policies that we consider appropriate. It is aimed at promoting the use and consumption of locally produced ICT goods and services without compromising standards. It requires that public procurement of ICT goods and services should ensure that at least 30% is locally produced or by local producers. This can be in the form of hardware, software and services such as training. Such a policy has an important role to play in driving the digital economy in the country. In particular, it provides an opportunity for local producers to be patronized which will make them grow and expand. Once they grow and expand, they will absorb many people into their employment, thus contributing to reducing unemployment in the country.
Patronizing local players will enable creativity and innovation that will spur many young people to task their brain. This development is what will cumulate into a massive uptake of digital technology to transform not only the economy but also the society. The policy will also reduce foreign exchange flight out of the country which in turn will help in stabilizing the national currency. The volatility of the national currency has been a major disabling factor for the growth of our economy. Such stability as aided by the local content policy will impact positively on the economy. The creativity and innovation activities that will arise as a result of the policy will increase both the availability and affordability of digital technology in the country.

Developed locally ICT goods and services will be more context specific, cutting off the stage of customization in the use chain, thus speeding up uptake and use. But it also means that accessibility will be enhanced. Improving availability, affordability and accessibility will lead to greater experimentation and the update of civic tech by both governments and non-state actors such as civil society organizations, mainstreaming ICTs in governance and in monitoring and tracking governance, thus improving transparency and accountability. This will ultimately lead to increase in effectiveness and efficiency of governance as well as bridging the gap between government and citizens, thus serving to consolidate democracy.
Finally, the growth in ICT production that the policy will stimulate will transform the country from a consuming nation to a producer with potential to export and once industries have the right support, they will make the country globally competitive in the ICT sector. And any country that is today globally competitive in the ICT sector will by the same token be economically competitive.

What does Nigeria need to do in order to effectively utilise local content to enable the country attain high level of technology development like India, China, Japan and other emerging tech countries.

I think from our observation, there is low awareness about the Local Content Policy especially at state level, and consequently, in spite of the good work that NITDA is doing to enforce compliance, there is also low level compliance with the policy. This means that there is need for government as represented by NITDA to step up awareness and sensitization programmes around the policy.

Secondly, the government has to lead in the use and consumption of locally produced ICT goods and services. It cannot tell citizens to patronize made in Nigeria ICTs while locked on made in China goods. This action of government will give citizens the confidence to embrace made in Nigeria ICT goods and services. But mere implementation of the policy without addressing other constraints that ICT firms face will not do the magic. Government has to address these challenges.
Number one is the question of power. You cannot grow the digital economy using generators. Government has to quickly fix the power sector to provide for cheap, affordable and clean energy to run the ICT industry and use.
Thirdly, We note that the National Broadband Plan is a good document. But a good document that is not backed by diligent implementation is as good as nothing.Government should implement the plan and help to spread the penetration of high speed internet access across the county. The digital economy can only be possible when there is high speed internet.
Thirdly, government has to protect industry from dumping that takes place via the importation of second-hand digital equipment and devices. On a monthly basis, thousands of used ICTs equipment and devices are imported into the country. Many of these are near end of their life cycle and they quickly become eWaste, turning into an environmental problem for the country. But they also make it difficult for people to patronize new goods produced in the country.

Fourthly, government has to come up with a national digital inclusion agenda which will address the various shades of digital divide in the country. It manifests in gender, digital marginalization (exclusion) of people living with disabilities, rural people, etc.

You cannot make success of the digital economy and transform Nigeria to be like India, China, with large swaps of the population digitally left behind.

Finally, we need to address the education sector to infuse digital learning into the system. This has to start from basic education. It should not be the type we see now where teaching computer skills is like teaching history or watching a football match with hundreds of students gathered around one system and the teacher telling them about it rather than helping them to learn how to use it.

Nigerian universities churn out thousands of graduates annually without jobs. In what ways do you think these graduates can be gainfully engaged to create employment opportunities?

It seems to me that we do not pay enough attention to the job market. We see unemployment but often we fail to see also skills shortage. The paradox is that we have graduate unemployment in the context of high skill gaps. This paradox should make us to avert our minds to the problem of our institutions of learning. What is happening is that there is disconnect between industry and the institutions. Universities are producing skills but not the type that industries require.

Research institutes are producing research outputs but not the type of outputs that industry needs. Policy think tanks are producing policies which never get to policy users and policy makers. They remain in shelves. What digitization has done is to bring this disconnect into sharp focus.

What is needed is to institute a regular interface and dialogue between industry and training institutions so that institutions can understand better what the industry needs and therefore tailor their training outcomes toward meeting that. When people talk about gaps between what is produced and what is needed, it is not just about content. It is also about orientation.

Take engineering as whole for example, the problem is not just that the content is outdated but that we need to realise what industry need is not a graduate engineer with knowledge and the skills ready-made to work in an industry but about the ability and disposition to learn, relearn and adapt to changing work environments. This is the era in which critical thinking is what we need more than just knowing the content of the subject. But it is also true that our content is lagging behind.

Today many of the Software Engineering curricula currently in our universities are far behind what industry is using and so graduates come out, and are not able to fit into the real industry.

Digitalization is the new normal today. What is the relationship between CITAD, other NGOs, government, and the academia towards promoting digitalization in Nigeria?

We understand that digitalization is new and many are yet to understand what actually it means for society. We realise that of course we cannot be outside it and to be left behind is a huge disadvantage.

This means that we need to get the message across to all that we must prepare adequately for the digital transition.

Preparation for this transition is not the work of NGOs alone. It is a collective national responsibility, with different actors having different roles to play. While government can provide policies and address critical infrastructure needs, NGOs can help in raising awareness by sensitizing the population, complementing training which is the primary responsibility of the academic institutions while the private sector needs to produce the ICT goods and services needed by the citizens as well as governments and other organizations.

In this, working across purposes cannot serve our interest. We need to have a shared goal and strategy to collectively move the country digitally forward. For this reason, CITAD has cultivated the partnership of governments at both state and federal levels, the private sector as well as with academic institutions.

It goes without saying that we also work together with other NGOs to mount common advocacy and campaign and implement joint programmes to address areas of felt needs. We have in the past two years instituted what we call the Critical Knowledge Dialogue working with academics, students and administrators of universities to support the re-launch of critical debates and dialogues in our university system as a means of transforming teaching and learning in the 21st century. It may interest you that even though we are an ICT focused organization, we run an annual Institute of Philosophy for young academics which is aimed at encouraging critical thinking among the participants.

The webinar on the local content is an example of the sort of partnerships we deployed, but it was not the first. In January we had a similar one with Linkserve, NIRA and Skyline University, on Business Opportunities for young entrepreneurs on domain name trading. Before it, we had one on 5G Technology in collaboration with NITDA and the Association for Progressive Communication, a global ICT-focused NGO.

We are also planning one with NCC on Community Networks as complimentary means of driving connectivity in rural and underserved communities.

How would you assess the current level of digital skills among tech enthusiasts and what caliber of digitally skilled personnel are required for attainment of digitalization in Nigeria?

By and large, there is incredible development of what one may call learning outside the formal classroom in which students of History, Linguistics, Philosophy etc use their spare time to learn about programming and apps development. This class of tech enthusiasts is a major asset to the country that needs to be cultivated and allowed to flourish.

Unfortunately, we put too much premium on certificate such that this class of tech enthusiasts who learn through doing are not accorded a place of recognition and given the incentive to grow and grow the tech sector for Nigeria.

I think we need to realise that creativity and innovation are not classroom subjects. They are products of critical thinking and we need a system of recognition and reward that positively value creativity and innovation and not just paper certification with no skills for innovation. I can say that we have a highly talented and skilful youth population but they need to be encouraged, supported and given the space to give the best to the country in terms of leading the processes of the digital economy.

Of course, we also need to expand our capacity for the local production of digital skills to meet the demands of the digital economy. Due to infrastructure shortage, many of the ICT related departments in our institutions of higher learning are not able to expand, end up producing just a few ICT professionals as if they are on test run.

Can the establishment of ICT Hubs across the six geo-political zones by NITDA bail out the country from the current economic challenges?

ICT Hubs are important element of the ICT ecosystem. However, in themselves, they are no solution to the problems the ICT sector faces in the country. I had earlier itemised a number of challenges that need to be addressed to help the sector grow. So yes, ICT Hubs provide spaces for young digital entrepreneurs, including, mentoring and co-working to unburden start-ups and we have seen a number of exciting products coming out from the NITDA initiative and supported hubs but they would perform better if the challenges of the general ICT ecosystem in the country are addressed.

Six centres can make contribution but they are not enough for a country with a population of over 200 million people. We need several of these hubs in each state of the federation.

How can the recently established NITDA National Centre for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship be a viable solution to the large scale unemployment among the youth of Nigeria?

As proof of concept, the NITDA National Centre for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a welcome and very important development. It can help many young entrepreneurs to find their feet in the slippery terrain of business survival. However, we need several of these centres across the country for them to make significant contribution in addressing unemployment.

We need many of the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship centres in our universities to transform into similar concept. I will say, therefore, the role of NITDA here is to demonstrate to Nigerians what can be done with such a concept as the National Centre for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is left to Nigerians, both in government and private sector as well as in the development sector to learn from the experience and replicate and upscale it across the country.

As a key stakeholder in the tech sector, what are the specific challenges facing ICT-focused NGOs in Nigeria, and how can they be addressed.

ICT-focused NGOs face three peculiar challenges. One is that donors tend to focus their attention more on governance and elections as well as healthcare and hardly provide support for ICT programming. Funding is generally difficult to come by.

Secondly, many people including donors find it difficult to understand the work of ICT-focused NGOs. They support one or two-day training on advocacy skills but in the case of ICT you want develop the skills of the beneficiaries and this takes comparatively longer period. Government and donors want to quickly tick the boxes and report whereas ICT-focused NGOs need time to ensure that the beneficiaries are properly groomed. This takes time and donors do not have the patience for such.

Thirdly, ICT-focused NGOs need to invest in equipment and facilities, including stable internet connectivity and constant power supply.

These are tall order problems in the context of Nigeria.

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TECH DIGEST – There has been a renewed call for strategic collaboration between industry and universities to enable institutions produce the relevant calibre of graduates to fill the skill gap in the ever-changing work place dominated by technology.

The Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Dr. Yunusa Z. Yau, who made this call while speaking with TechDigest.ng., lamented that stakeholders in the labour market have continued to neglect the effect of skill shortage due to obsolete curricular.

Dr. Yau said the inability of universities to produce skilled manpower to match the evolving digital technologies is a result of lack of cooperation between industry and institutions of higher learning in the country.

He advised that universities’ curricular must be upgraded with new content to deliver quality manpower required for the industries to function, noting that digitization has exposed the lack of synergy between key stakeholders in higher education.

“Universities are producing skills but not the type that industries require. Research institutes are producing research outputs but not the type of outputs that industry needs. They remain in shelves.

“What is needed is to institute a regular interface and dialogue between industry and training institutions so that institutions can understand better what the industry needs and therefore tailor their training outcomes toward meeting that.

“Take engineering as whole for example, the problem is not just that the content is outdated but that we need to realise what industry need is not a graduate engineer with knowledge and the skills ready- made to work in an industry but about the ability and disposition to learn, relearn and to adapt to changing work environment,’’ he explained.

The CITAD boss urged the government formulate policies that would guide universities to produce graduates equipped with fresh skill, knowledge and capacity for critical thinking in order to fit in the real world of work.

The post Industry, Institutions Must Collaborate to Produce Quality Manpower appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The Founder/Executive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Dr. Yunusa  Z. Yau, says strict implementation of the Local Content Policy is needed for guaranteed growth and stability in Nigeria’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.

Dr. Yau, who spoke in an interview with TechDigest.ng, said the local content policy is vital to driving the country’s digital economy by promoting the use and consumption of locally produced ICT goods and services without compromising standards.

According to him, effective implementation of the policy will ensure patronage for local producers, and generate a constant stream of employment opportunities for young people.

“It requires that public procurement of ICT goods and services should ensure that at least 30% is locally produced or by local producers. This can be in the form of hardware, software and services such as training. Such a policy has an important role to play in driving the digital economy in the country.

“In particular, it provides an opportunity for local producers to be patronized which will make them grow and expand. Once they grow and expand, they will absorb many people into their employment, thus contributing to reducing unemployment in the country‘’.

He explained that patronizing local producers would enlarge the scale of creativity and innovation among the young people which would facilitate the creation of digital technologies for transformation of the economy and the society.

Dr. Yau noted that the foreign exchange flight out of the country is going to witness massive reduction and the national currency would regain stability through a robust implementation of local content law.

“The policy will also reduce foreign exchange flight out of the country which in turn will help in stabilizing the national currency. The volatility of the national currency has been a major disabling factor for the growth of our economy. Such stability as aided by the local content policy will impact positively on the economy.

“The creativity and innovation activities that will arise as a result of the policy will increase both the availability and affordability of digital technology in the country. The growth in ICT production that the policy will stimulate will transform the country from a consuming nation to a producer with potential to export and once industries have the right support, they will make the country globally competitive in the ICT sector’’, he said.

The CITAD boss added that besides its impact on the local producers and the economy, the policy would also lead to increased efficiency of governance thereby bridging the gap between government and the citizens, and helping to deepen democracy Nigeria’s democratic experience.

The post Local Content Implementation Key for Growth, Prosperity in ICT Sector appeared first on Tech Digest News.