ICT stakeholders support LCCI’s ICTEL Expo 2016

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other key Information Communications Technology (ICT) stakeholders have pledged allegiance to the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in support of its Information Communication Technology and Telecommunications Exhibition and Conference (ICTEL Expo 2016).

The ICTEL Expo 2016 is a professional trade show that draws attentions to the ICT and Telecommunication industry organised by the LCCI. This year’s theme, “Mobility, Technology and the Nigerian Economy”, will be driven by four key sub-themes: ICT for economic growth and poverty reduction; Exploring smart cities opportunities and the internet of everything thing; ICT and organisational efficiency and using data science to gain unassailable market advantage.

Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, said the Commission is happy to identify with LCCI on the expo, in order to continue opening up opportunities in the industry which has been witnessing growth in the past few years.

The EVC who was represented at the event by Joseph Atoyebi, the Commission’s deputy director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, NCC, said that with 216 million connected telephone lines as at March 2016, Nigeria stands to gain a lot on leveraging opportunities in the sector to boost the economic fortunes.

According to him, the telecoms industry has become a success enabler to other industries with the upsurge in telephone density cutting across the technology platforms including the GSM; Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and fixed wired/wireless.

Also speaking on how Nigeria can key into the numerous opportunities available in the sector, Vincent Olatunji, Director General of NITDA represented by Bernard Ewah, Head, e-Government Unit in the Agency, said that the Agency will not relent on leveraging existing relationship with LCCI to achieve the mandate which includes focusing the responsibilities of the Agency on fostering the development and growth of IT in Nigeria.

Nike Akande, President of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said that the chamber seeks to draw attention to available opportunities in mobile technology and how this trend is changing the nature and process of doing business across the globe.

She said the major key to fostering ICT growth, and the vast opportunities available in the sector would be for the government to create and enforce appropriate legislations for the industry and encourage public private partnership.

Also, Chris Uwaje, newly appointed Co-Chair for Publicity and Communications for Africa on 2016 IEEE 3rd World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT), expressed delight to associate with the Chamber on the ICT expo.

He said, “the change people are talking about come in different colorations. We in the ICT sector have a responsibility to putting the nation on the path of knowledge-based economy. This can be easily achieved when partners like LCCI embrace the process, products and services that IT/ICTs offer”.

He however, called for improved government attention on e-governance as the nucleus to drive other automations and IT agenda.

“I am happy that we are now having common grounds to chat. For instance, in the era of Internet of Things (IoTs), how do we manage the e-commerce, e-health, e-learning, without anchoring the processes on e-governance. Without e-governance, which is different from computerisation, we may not achieve much”, he added.

 

JUMOKE AKIYODE