Economy Recovery: Govt to Leverage Power of Broadband

For Nigeria’s economy to recover and bounce back to good health, the present administration of President Mohammadu Buhari should shift its attention away from oil and work assiduously on how to leverage the power of broadband technology.

According to Mr. Tayo Adewusi, organizer of the prestigious Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF) and Africa Digital Awards (ADA), the power of broadband technology to transform and catalyze economies and social growth cannot be overemphasized.

He said broadband technology is an essential tool for empowering people, create an environment that nurtures the technological and service innovation and trigger positive change in business processes.

In a statement, Adewusi said that broadband technology has become the priority of the 21st century economy.

Defined as the technology that enables high-speed transfer of data, according to him, broadband is linked to the emergence of the Internet.

”Broadband is at the heart of the economy and covers support services, electronic billing, Wi-Fi, electronic monitoring, inventory management, and web security. Other areas are device configuration, project management, e-ticketing and installation”, he said.

“How can broadband deployment impact Nigeria’s economic recovery”, would be the central focus of the dignitaries expected at the Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum(NIICF) and the fifth edition of Africa Digital Awards (ADA) on August 26, 2016 at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos.   The forum would honour outstanding corporate and individual achievers that have leveraged on the potent power of ICT.

Adewusi explained that an increase in the adoption of broadband in the country would drive and support several services and applications in the economy. “But the broadband needs to be affordable for users”, he said.

He averred that the availability of broadband infrastructure and broadband-enabled applications would assist ICT regulators, policy-makers and stakeholders in the ecosystem to ensure the technology play a vital role in Nigeria’s economy beyond the 21st century.  ITU has expressed the need for developing economies to focus on the provision of affordable broadband services.

“We need to build knowledge for our economy so that it can thrive and evolve into the future. These are some of issues the dignitaries would delve into at the forum and award night”, he added.

Nominees for the awards are Nigerian Communication Commission [NCC], National Information Technology Development Agency [NITDA], MTN, NIGCOMSAT, National Broadcasting Commission [NBC], MainOne, Yudala, Computer Warehouse Group [CWG], and 21 Centuries Technologies among others.

The individuals award would be bestowed on Dr. Vincent Olatunji, acting Director General of NITDA; Funke Opeke, MD/CEO of MainOne; Engr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, MD/CEO of Teledom Group, and Emmanuel Okonji, editor, ICT, Thisday Newspaper.

Prof Umaru Danbatta, executive vice chairman and CEO of NCC, and Mallam Yusuf Kazaure, MD/CEO, Galaxy Backbone, are among the guest expected at the event.

According to him the ICT Impact CEO Forum would be chaired by the Minister of Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu while Prof. Umaru Danbatta, EVC/CEO of NCC, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, Ag. DG of NITDA and Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode will be the Keynote Speakers and Managing Director of MTN, Ferdi Moolman, Managing Director of Main One Ms. Funke Opeke and Managing Director of Nigcomsat Ms. Abimbola Alale are the lead paper presenters.