Adipeng: Chance to Show Good Nigeria

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) have led to the development of many great countries.
Nigeria is still at the outskirts of the burgeoning revolution and has also gained notoriety for the use of ICT tools for fraudulent activities.
But that is no taking away the importance of ICT.
Dr Jimson Olufuye, president, Technology (Industry) Association of Nigeria (Itan) summed it up when he said that the driving force of the information age is the composite stream of applied technologies (Information and Communications) known as Information Technology (IT). It is the engine of modern civilization. The higher a nation or people are in IT pedestal, the more developed the people are in terms of wealth, living standard, know-how and dominance of the world within and without.
It is especially so now that the latest white elephant “re-branding Nigeria” project by federal government has been met with severe criticism.
Criticism because the re-branding campaign is being carried out in the midst of the various chaos, endemic corruption, massive unemployment, rising crime and notoriously unreliable public power supply among others.
Luckily, Nigeria now has a chance to tell the better side of it ICTs development and possibly ‘re-brand Nigeria” as people with unique talents that can benefit the world
So with the forthcoming Adipeng 2009 workshop and conference, Nigeria can open a new window of opportunity for global reckoning
Adipeng, an ellipsis for advancing the dynamics of ICT policy engineering for e_Government is a world class and prestigious pre-conference/workshop organized by World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) and Itan.
WITSA is a consortium of about 70 information technology (IT) industry associations from economies around the world representing over 90 percent of the world IT market.
As the global voice of the IT industry, WITSA is dedicated to among other thing advocating policies that advance the industry’s growth and development.
It is the first time that this special pre-conference/workshop will be held in Nigeria and will help maximize the opportunities of ICT in developing countries.
Adipeng will also afford the WITSA delegation ample opportunity for first hand assessment of the tremendous IT investment potentials in Nigeria.
It will also open up the non-oil & gas sector which is lagging behind in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Nigeria.
Oil & Gas currently attracts more than 55% of the est $9billion yearly FDI into Nigeria. With the Federal Government target of $50billion FDI yearly till 2020, this Workshop is no doubt critical to the attainment of the Vision 2020 of the Federal Government of Nigeria of $600billion FDI.
The workshop will provide opportunities for Local, State & Federal Governments to engage the visitors and one another on ICT investment potentials across Nigeria.
 ICT security issues especially challenges, impact and solutions for cyber-crime & cyber-security will also help Nigerian government and similar developing countries facing cyber crime issues deal with them.
It is important that government and well meaning corporate organizations lend their weight to this project.
Government must also integrate and implement the outcome of the conference in its feverish ‘re-branding” campaign.
Organizers of the conference must also ensure that the relevant stakeholders are invited to the event.