Clarion Call to Tech Brands to Support Tech Initiatives

My personal belief is that the technology industry is not consciously working for its good whether this is being done knowingly or unknowingly is left for posterity to judge.

As for me I have little or no choice but to write about this topic in the way I see it having been in this game for close to 10 years.

In the next few weeks, it will be two years since I started presenting and co-producing Tech Trends on Channels Television, which has grown to become the Nation's most respected technology show and I have lost count of the number of top executives in the ICT space and start ups who stop to appreciate some of the high quality content I churn out weekly. If only such praises are matched with good support for our platforms.

I know it is not compulsory but my argument is that if the ICT industry wants to grow in a sustainable manner, then, it must find a way to ensure that all other parts of the ecosystem continues to develop, particularly tech media which includes tech bloggers.

Just imagine, an innovator creates the best software solutions and the guy who she depends on to educate the general public is unable to do it effectively, or there are no other tech platforms, whether on print, broadcast, digital or even events to share the value of that solution, how would that company grow?

This piece is really not about me because, thankfully, I evolved as a strong voice for the industry, but it took me almost a decade to get here, and I am wondering if it has to be that difficult?

Be that as it may, I wish to still use this well-respected column to urge the various ICT brands out there, to look inwards and support other segments of the industry because, at the end of the day, all parts of the sector are important and must work as one.

Yes, you awesome brands can spend millions and billions sponsoring music shows, reality TV programs, comedy skits, gossip blogs and other forms of entertainment, but it will be unwise not to bother about what goes on down the ladder of your industry.

To the brilliant executives of these top brands, we cannot always think of short term ROI. Whether we accept or not, the tech industry in Nigeria, despite all the growth and in some cases hype, is still quite fragile and wrong policies can send her to an early grave, and there are Indian and other foreign companies lurking around to play ball and take over. This is why we must all begin to think long term for the survival of our industry.

I am one of those who believe that ICT brands still need to support and spend some advertising budget on tech initiatives, such as tech columns i.e. ICT clinic, technology TV shows, tech blogs, events, summits and seminars, hackathons and many more that will all go a long way to make the industry more formidable.

There is the need to create an army of digitally-minded citizens who do not only consume technology, but are willing to seek ways to also become solution providers and ultimately stand up against retrogressive policies like the proposed 9% communications tax. One way of achieving this is, using the power of mass and digital media.

For laughs: did you come across the recent report that our lawmakers are working on a new bill called "Act to provide for Effective and Transparent Administration, Management and Control of Payment, Clearing & Settlement Processes in Nigeria (and for related matters)"? What caught my attention the most is this comment attributed to Senator Ibrahim Gobir; "E-Commerce has taken over the whole world, and with that, we can make billions of money daily."

This is the kind of mindset that we need to fight to change but, who is going to do that? Is it the entertainment stars and reality TV show winners that the ICT brands spends billions on annually? I ask this question because industry watchers know that the ecommerce industry is in a struggle state, yes they have potentials, but profitability is still far from it, so our lawmakers need to be lectured on this and should, therefore, not make laws based on assumptions, otherwise, the industry will never grow.

I only cited this recent bill as an example but, there are a number of issues threatening the industry, such as the proposed 9% communications tax, weak/slow broadband penetration, proliferation of foreign companies with total disregard for local content laws, dearth of adequate skills, assumption that local tech companies do not have a right to earn billions if their solutions go global (referring to the TSA brouhaha). I could go on and on, but I believe you probably get the point.

In conclusion, I call on ICT brands to look a bit inwards and see how they can solidly support good tech initiatives that will not only give them value, but also, give the industry and the nation value. They should, however, not equate the perceived quick value they assume they get from entertainment and reality TV with what they will get from a long term intellectual platforms like Tech Trends on Channels Television as well as tons of awesome initiatives being pioneered by young but committed individuals. I rest my case at this point, hoping someone will nod in agreement!

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CFA is the Founder, www.techsmart.ng and Co-producer/Presenter,Tech Trends on Channels Television