ATPN Harps on IT Usage for Road Safety

Association of Telecommunications Professionals of Nigeria (ATPN) in celebration of this year’s World Telecommunications and Information Society (WTIS) Day, has called for cross-sectional collaboration to increase road safety in Nigeria by adopting necessary information and communication technologies.

ATPN while joining the Ministry of Communication Technology, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), National Information and Technology Development Agency (Nitda) and the world in general in celebrating the World Telecommunications and Information Society (WTIS) Day 2013, said the celebration has been an avenue to draw stakeholders’ attention to critical issues in the society.

Williams John, national president, in a statement said, “As the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is focusing on the theme, “ICT and Improving Road Safety”, the purpose of WTISD has been to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the internet and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) can bring to societies economies, as of ways to bridge the digital divide.

“So, WTIS Day has been celebrated annually since the 17th of May, 1969 making the founding of ITU and the signing of the first International Telegraph Convention in 1865. It was instituted by the Plenipotentiary Conference in Malaga-Torremlinos in 1973”.

ITU on it part, called on all telecommunications and ICT stakeholders to take practical steps in the use of ICTs to improve road safety, taking into account the risks associated with the unreasonable use of ICTs and drive distraction, as well as the benefits of ICTs and vehicular safety technologies, in order to improve global road safety.

Stressing the ITU’s point, ATPN urged all road users that the safe usage of telecommunications and ICT devices will help reduce the huge human and material losses caused by road accidents, “as this WTIS Day, is meant to show the role of ICT in upgrading efficiency of traffic management and improving road safety to save people’s lives”.

According to the report of the United Nations Road Safety Collaboration (UNRSC) released by Ban Ki-Moom, United Nations Secretary General, 1.3 million people die each year in traffic related accidents and another 20-50 million people are injured mainly in developing countries around the world. As a result, government and individuals suffer an estimated $518 billion in global economic lose.

“I want to say here that, the ITU has been leading worldwide efforts in developing State-of-the-art ICT standards for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), which will eliminate the unsafe technology-related distractions while driving.

“Which means, driver distractions and road-user behaviours which include text messaging and interfacing with in-vehicle navigation or communications system while driving, are among the leading contributors to road traffic fatalities and injuries,” John added.