NCC, NBC, Nitda Back Beacon of ICT Awards

 Beacon of ICT awards, the merit-centric awards that reward best practices and recognize outstanding contributions at the weekend received a flurry of important endorsements from Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda), the key regulators of the ICT industry in Nigeria .
Ken Nwogbo, spokesman for Communication Week Media Limited, organizers of the awards and publishers of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek said that “ the three ICT umpires are united in their support for the awards founded to honour organisations and individuals whose contributions positively affected Nigeria and Nigerians in 2009”
The endorsements by the key regulators are strategic to the overall objective of the awards which recognize government and business organisations as well as individuals for their creativity and excellence in the application of ICTs and solutions to provide efficient and high-quality services to Nigerians.
The awards are free and awardees chosen by Nigerians will be honoured at a special dinner Saturday, March 27 at the prestigious Eko Hotels and Suite.
Nwogbo said that the awards would encourage organisations and individuals to continue to strive for excellence in all of their business and customer transactions, by implementation of innovative and improved ICT based services.
 “The awards become necessary because ICTs have become indispensable tools in improving the efficiency and quality of public service and also emerging as the key to growth and competitiveness in an increasingly globalised economy” Nwogbo said.
He thanked NCC, NBC and Nitda for their support stating that the awards will motivate other stakeholders in effective utilization of ICT for citizen's services and ensure that ICT professionals are provided a benchmark for recognizing and validating outstanding contribution
NCC, the independent national regulatory authority is responsible for creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country.
The Commission supports a market driven telecommunications industry and promote universal access, through the consistent enforcement of clear and fair policies that protect stakeholders, ensure efficient resource management, share industry best practices and deliver affordable, quality telecom services.
NBC on the other hand is the broadcast regulator of Nigeria and has under the present management evolved defined standards, in all aspects of broadcasting.
The NBC has been effectively licensing, monitoring and regulating the broadcast environment which has resulted in increased investment and development of quality programming and technology.
Elsewhere, Nitda, the clearing house for IT projects in the public sector has made Nigeria an IT capable country.
The agency has been ensuring that the entire citizenry is empowered with information technologies through the development of a critical mass of IT proficient and globally competitive manpower.