The Centre for Information Technology and Development (Citad) has flagged off its ICT Business Incubators Programme with a pioneer set of 16 youths. The sixteen youths were selected from the best of the 300 people who participated last year in the Microsoft/USA Government supported Employability Programme that Citad and LEAP Africa are implementing in Kano.
The ICT Business Incubator Programme as conceived by Citad is aimed at nurturing the young people to become ICT businesses entrepreneurs. The Incubator programme consists of three components. The first is a training programme on ICT entrepreneurship, which lasts for three month. During the period the participations are in addition to deepening their ICT skills, given training in such ICT skills as website design, video/film editing, and ICT equipment maintenance among others. They are also to be couched in Small Scale Business Management and Marketing as well as in communication and negotiation skills. During this time participants are also encouraged to sit for relevant professional examinations such as those organized by the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN).

At the end of the three months, they will undergo a 3-month business internship during which they are expected to produce business plans. These business plans would be discussed with a team of Citad business advisers and once agreed upon, Citad would then provide the needed business support on grantorship. The beneficiaries will then at the end of the business internship set up his or her business.
 At this stage Citad would provide business mentoring support, networking, professional upgrading and virtual office space for the participants. Six months following the establishment of own businesses would be used to incubate and it is expected that at the end of the year the participants would graduate to full business Entrepreneurs.

At the core of the programme is the team work and participants are encouraged to work towards setting up partnerships or cooperatives rather individual businesses. The pioneer group of 16 consists of nine (9) male and seven (7) females.

Citad is an ICT-focused non-governmental organization which has offices in Kano and Dutse, and an outreach unit in Bauchi State.

Itan admittance into WITSA to increase FDI
The admission of Information Technology Association of Nigeria, (Itan) into World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa) is expected to open up new opportunities for the Nigerian IT and Services industry in the area of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), partnerships, networking, granting of wide range research and development possibilities across Witsa domain
Dr Jimson Olufuye, president, Itan, disclosed this in Lagos while unfolding the details of the planned visit of Dato Dan Khoo, Witsa chairman and Dr James Poisant the Secretary-General schedule between April 21 and 24, 2009. He noted that the admission also demands the emulation of best practices and effective show-casing of local success stories in the global arena.
“My expectation is that the Chairman’s visit will boost more investments in ICT at the grassroots, the states and the Federal level. My hope is that the visit would provide more capacity to engender the expected boost. And as a visit with long term implication, I’m optimistic that it would be far reaching to making a reality the seven point agenda of the Federal government and the realization of the vision 20 2020. Witsa commands a global mass of expertise on IT matters and Nigeria cannot afford not to tap into this formidable resource base” he said.
The visit of Khoo by April this year, according to Dr Olufuye who has been preaching e-learning through the Old Students Personal Computer (OSPC) Project in the Nigerian foundational education system, will afford stakeholders in the Nigerian IT sector the opportunity to trade ideas on the latest developments in the global community, adding that Itan was admitted into Witsa to represent the Nigerian Information Technology and Services Industry.
The WITSA delegation, he said will also visit some state Governors including Kano, Bauchi as tremendous opportunities exist to share ideas on their ICT projects.  Ministers in charge of ICTs and possibly the President may also be visited.
The admission of Itan into the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa), Olufuye said ,  has thrown open unlimited business opportunities for its  members in the areas of global partnerships, networking, foreign direct investment, product/service deliveries in global market through reliable channels, among others.  Dr Olufuye also unfolded a new shift in Itan operation paradigm to take advantage of its new role in Witsa for the benefit of its members.
Itan’s robust engagement with Witsa, according to him has opened a new vista for the IT and services industry in Nigeria. “It opens with it opportunity for the Industry to metamorphose into the leading Industry in Africa actively engaging the rest of the world. A major thrust for the achievement of this objective is the evolvement and the empowerment of the Itan Founding Partners, the Corporate Advisory Group (CAG) and the Government Advisory Group (GAG) to consist of IT Advisers to State Governors” he explained.
Leveraging on the opportunities available with the engagement of Itan therefore requires boosting of members capacities in all ramifications.
The World Information Technology and Services Alliance is a consortium of about 70 information technology (IT) industry associations from economies around the world. WITSA members represent over 90 percent of the world IT market.