TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA today commences the training of 75 farmers that are to be absorbed on the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture platform.

The five days training which is holding at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan Oyo State is aimed at improving the production and the productivity of every NITDA adopted farmers on the NAVSA platform and also increase their incomes.

The NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE who was represented by the team lead and Assistance Director, Digital Economy Development Director, Dr Ayodele Bakare in his opening remarks disclosed that the project is designed to help the farmers raise their efficiency, effectiveness and profitability of their farm businesses through the adoption of digital technologies.

He stated that the adoption of technologies in agricultural practices have really helped in food sustainability especially the developed country adding that for Nigeria to also achieve the same feat, it must adopt technologies in all the agricultural value chain.

READ ALSO: NAVSA: NITDA Takes Empowerment Training To Oyo State

He said, “For us to be successful, this programme is going to be implemented in two folds. One, we are going to be providing you with training on the application of digital technologies in the enablement of value chain in agriculture and two, we are going to be implementing a smart farm which includes smart brooding, smart irrigation, use of drones for area mapping and the provision of digital platform to effectively manage the smart farm.”

He added that the essence of the training is for the beneficiaries to be able to manage their smart farms and become self reliance and self employed.

While advising the beneficiaries to take the training seriously because “NITDA and the University have put in tremendous efforts into the project, he called on the institution to consider expanding the scope beyond what NITDA has originally created it for, and to ensure its sustainability so it can continue to achieve its goals and objectives.

The Vice Chancellor of the School, Prof Kayode Adebowale who was represented by Prof Oladepo Okhare, expressed delight over the project and commended NITDA for finding the University worthy of the programme.

He maintained that the world is has become a global village where adoption of Information Technology in agricultural practices would not only guarantee access to information but increase the potentials of farmers.

He said, “Smart farming is proliferating globally and in Nigeria we are about to start. The potentials are here, and I would have loved to see more students here than we have seen today. I think after this programme, there is a need to extend it to the other departments like Engineering, just like you have done to Computer Science. There is a need for integration, optimisation and synthesis of knowledge.”

While admitting that the new curriculum for the university education should include entrepreneurial contexts, the Vice Chancellor commended NITDA for being proactive in working in that direction already by collaborating with tertiary institutions in building the human capacity and promoting entrepreneurial skills of the students.

“We need to have a lot of collaboration and as we had done in the past but either from your side or our side, we are sometimes stagnant and I think the bond can still be strengthened, our students are ready to work and it is about the future,” he alluded.

Earlier, the representative of the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Oladeji Oyinlola, applauded the position of NITDA to collaborate with the University describing it as a welcome development. “Collaboration has been the position of the university since its inception, and in this regard, it is so novel because developed countries of the world now employ the use of Information Technology to enhance food security,” he added.

He said, “NITDA is therefore providing a real privilege for the university on a platter of gold. NITDA, in its quest to intervene in the agricultural development of the nation recently introduced NAVSA. This digitally artificial project is conceived to facilitate the development of agricultural enterprises.”

While accepting that the programme would go a long way in exposing the students to modern trend in agricultural practices especially in the use of information and computer technology for agriculture, Prof Oyinlola also noted that the programme provided for the beneficiaries; smart devices, seed funding, capacity building in four different enterprises, among others.

He listed other components the programme provides to include; provision of connectivity to the beneficiaries, access to NAVSA platform facilitation, financial inclusion through the digital wallets on the NAVSA platform, provision of insurance and E-extension services, provision of smart demo farm, that is, smart irrigation and brooding system, a borehole that has already been donated for the project at the University satellite farm in Ile-Ogbo, installation of smart irrigation system by NITDA, a 500 litre water tank, one Horse Power surface water pump, and solar inverter installed to utilize the small irrigation system.

He appreciated the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami and the NITDA’s Director General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, for approving the school as beneficiary of the programme.

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TECHDIGEST – Researches emanating from the telecommunications sector should be commercialised to enhance their originality and acceptability.

This formed part of the discussions that emanated at the recently organised roundtable with academia, industry and other stakeholders in the Southern Region by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) with the theme: “The Path from Innovative Research to Commercialisation of Viable Prototypes.”

Lead Speaker, Founder of the Valentine Chineto Ozigbo (VCO) Foundation, Valentine Ozigbo, said innovative research is the search for new business methods, strategic techniques, and solutions to solve today’s pressing problems.

Ozigbo, the immediate past President and Group CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp), stressed that it is the process of inventing new products or solutions that solve a problem uniquely.

According to him, the 2021 Global Innovation Index created by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranked Nigeria 118th out of 132 economies. Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States of America lead the world, adding that in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania lead.

Revealing some worrisome data, he said Nigeria filed 425 patents in 2020. According to him, there is a difference between filed and approved, “between 2010 and 2020, Nigeria filed 1,702 patents. Let us match that against our universities – the pinnacle of research and innovation in any society. We have 91 public universities in Nigeria. This would mean that, on the average, each Nigerian university filed 19 patents in 10 years.

“This tells us what we may already know about ourselves. The world has left us behind. We are far behind. We are not given to problem solving or original thinking. We need to step up our game in the area of innovation. We need to catch up with the rest of the world. I believe that we can catch up and overtake them but specific radical steps need to be taken.”

On this, he said there are three approaches to innovation, which include, “needs-based approach (this is when innovation is driven by needs identified in the market]; seeds-based approach (this is driven by the supply needs in the industry or manufacturing ecosystem] and the accelerated innovation approach, which is driven by the quest to solve industry-relevant problems.

According to him, Nigeria needs a radical innovation approach, which considers all three protocols above and even some more, where there are no boundaries in thinking. “One that involves original thinking, solving the world’s biggest problems. One that identifies problems nobody has thought about and solves before they know they have a problem.

“We need to get into the zone where Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, the late Steve Jobs and other innovators operate. Where inventions around space travel are being made. Where rapid and radical reengineering in the field of food, medicine, human potential, longevity, fuel, power, energy, technology, and learning are occurring. The space where 3D, 4D, 5D are made. I am talking about the world of limitless possibilities and infinity thinking,” he stated.

To transform a prototype to business venture, Ozigbo said it is advisable to “seal the protection of your ideas via patenting, trademarking, and other intellectual property registrations.”

According to him, an initial feasibility study would also support the process at this point. He explained that a feasibility study accesses the practicality of a plan or method or endeavour.

Earlier at the forum, the Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said the commission collaborates with the academia in maximising the contributions of the country’s tertiary institutions to innovations and sustainable development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry.

The NCC EVC, who was represented by the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services at the commission, Ms. Josephine Amuwa, informed that at the end of 2021, the telecoms body provided N522.6 million as research grants to tertiary institutions. He stressed that each research is designed to deliver a prototype that can be commercialised for the benefit of the industry and consumers.

As such, Danbatta said the roundtable was put together to encourage the commercialisation of locally developed telecommunications innovations, which hitherto had been sponsored by the commission, as a way of fostering and deepening the indigenous technological capabilities of Nigerians, to support the overall growth of the industry and creating wealth for the spin-off companies.

He said academia is a key driver of innovation in all spheres of human endeavor, “but in specific terms, the ideas, inventions and improvements that emanate from the academia are required by industry for improved efficiencies and productivity. With this in mind, the regulator, as a critical component of any ecosystem, aims to ensure all stakeholders are protected and the industry nurtured for maximum benefit to business and society.”

Danbatta said faced with the challenges of commercialising research prototypes, it is clear that the commission will have to make a commitment to facilitate the contributions from academia, by supporting the commercialisation of these prototypes, to deepen the indigenous technological capabilities, which would support the overall development of the industry.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, said bringing all stakeholders involved in innovation together remains very key for the country.

Adebowale said one of the things lacking in Nigeria is the idea of the Triple Helix Model of Universities that carry out research for government and probably handshake with them so that it won’t just be research for research sake, “but research for development, which will see industry been able to come to the university and tell us the problems before them. Also the varsities will then be able to visit private industries and then be able to ask them what they can do.

“It is when we do this that we will be able to impact on national development. Otherwise, we will just be carrying out these researches and they will just remain on the shelves and die there, which we don’t want. But when we come together like this, we will be able to exchange ideas and as NCC is doing, provide a channel for us to be able to interact.”

Source: Guardian.ng

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TECHDIGEST – The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has said that driving digital innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging Nigeria’s youth to create and develop solutions from inception to commercialization will boost the country’s economy.

Inuwa disclosed this at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Oyo State during the closing ceremony of a 3-day South West Edition of the 9th NITDA’s Hackathon Challenge organized by the Agency’s subsidiary, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, NCAIR.

The theme of the challenge is “Innovation-Driven Ideas for addressing local challenges in Health, Government, Transportation, Financial Services and Smart city in Nigeria for Social and Economic Development.”

The DG, represented by Dr Salihu Abdulkareem, asserted that digital innovation and entrepreneurship would help fast-track the recovery of other traditional economic sectors by supporting the provision and adoption of indigenous and tailor-made solutions for nationwide implementation of the policy through automation, smart processes and ICT solutions.

Inuwa further revealed that NITDA Hackathon 2022 is aimed at finding solutions towards building a digital Nigeria. He added that talented Nigerians are challenged to come up with clearly defined ideas and prototypes on solutions around agriculture, logistics and security for the swift growth and development of the country.

“African continent is a den of problems waiting to be solved and presents the next biggest market worldwide. In particular, Nigeria has a rapidly growing youthful population by which taking advantage of the market will lead to the creation of jobs, solutions and revenue flow for the country”, he added.

While stressing the need to come together and find solutions to the diverse problems we face because government alone cannot handle them, the DG maintained that collective responsibility is needed to achieve the positive impacts the nation yearns for.

The DG further encouraged innovators not to relent in their various efforts towards tackling the problems bedeviling the country, saying that such solutions will go a long way in addressing issues of development, appealing to teeming youths to always showcase their talents which will serve as channels for solutions to some of the problems that require immediate panacea.

He revealed that the program also provides an avenue for young Nigerians to contribute their quota in the solution-finding and also provides opportunities for the creation of jobs both directly and indirectly, keying into the Digital Economy policy that will facilitate the swift growth and development of the country.

The Vice-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, represented by Professor Olapegba, Chairman Geo-Hackathon, University of Ibadan, in his remarks appreciated NITDA for the diverse programs and initiatives being implemented across the country “for growth of our nation. This is changing the way things are done and has fast-tracked the processes of operations’’.

“Programs like this are things that are needed to curb the problems being faced in the country, simply because such programs give an avenue for young teeming youth to showcase their talents which will help solve such dilemmas’’, he added.

Prof. Olapegba encouraged participants not to stop at solution finding after this program, but to go further towards the actualization of what they have started which will bring about solutions to the problems being faced in the country.

Highlights of the event included the presentation of cash prizes of N1.5million, N1 million, and N500,000 to the winner, first runner up and second runner respectively.

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