Dr. Dan-Azumi Mohammed Ibrahim, director general, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has cautioned regulators in the country to be firm in implementation of government policies for impact.
Chris Uwaje, chairman, Connect Techologies (l) presenting award to Dr. Dan-Azumi Mohammed Ibrahim, director general, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) at the National Software Think Tank (NSOFT) cocktail held in Lagos last week.
He said that government policies cannot deliver good results if regulators implementing such policies are not firm and greedy. “If regulators are not firm with government policies there is no way you can see impact of those policies,” he said.
Dr. Dan-Azumi, stated this at a cocktail organised in his honour by the National Software Think Tank (NSOFT) in Lagos. He reiterated how NOTAP started local vendor policy which is aimed at building capacity in software ecosystem. The vendor policy means that before any agreement on software is registered in NOTAP, there must be a Nigerian IT company involved in the deployment and maintenance of that software.
“It was a very bold initiative but not without resistance from many angles, the idea is that if Nigerian professions or talents are involved in the deployment and maintenance, original equipment manufacturers have no reason not to come and develop our talents. So, this software local vendor policy became fully entrenched and we insist that at no time will any agreement be registered without a local vendor company.
“We have had blackmails, threats among others, but it is a regulator, if you remain firm those companies coming into this country have no choice than to queue into the policy provided you are not greedy. If you are greedy they can compromise you and that is the end of any regulation.
“After our joint seminar with CWG Plc we discussed freely and found out that software is a sector that must have a deliberate policy not only to develop capacity but to ensure that the policy put in place will force the system to begin to materialise to what is known as locally developed software.
To this end, we set up a Think Tank committee that did a very thorough work. I must commend you, when I saw the quality of work that you produced, if we are able to work along that line I belief it is a matter of time Nigeria will be like India. With the quality of people we have what we need is the policy to strengthen the implementation of those recommendations, he noted.
In his remarks, Chris Uwaje, chairman, Connect Technologies, organiser of the Cocktail, said that no other sector can provide the strategic, prosperous and sustainable solution for Nigeria’s future, development, security and survivability other than software.
“Software is not just about information technology, but indeed the oxygen for human existence. Our entire life is an infinite genetic Code. That is the absolute significance of software ecosystem.
“The National software think tank (NSOFT) is a convergence of ICT expert group setup by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) as a significant fallout on the resolution of the 2-day ICT stakeholders roundtable on the application and use of software in the financial sector- jointly hosted in Lagos by NOTAP and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
“The main thrust of NSOFT is to advance a 5 year strategic plan to encourage adoption of indigenous software for the security and growth of the economy, build commensurate capabilities and capacities to alleviate the critical challenges of the indigenous software ecosystem and provide a formidable roadmap for the advancement, sustainable development and competitiveness of software Nigeria.
“Ultimately, this strategic plan aims at ensuring the provision of massive employment opportunities for millions of Nigerian youth, contribute to the GDP and become a viral export resource for wealth creation and national security,” he said.
According to him, “in the UNCTAD 2012 edition, special attention was given to the role of software capabilities in accelerating progress towards a more inclusive information society – with particular reference to developing economies including Nigeria”.
He outlined the key issues covered which included but not limited to the following;
- The link between software capabilities and development
- Critical and regional trends in production, spending, trade, investment, venture capital and employment in the software sector.
- The evolving ICT landscape and its impact on software production patterns
- Trends and implications related to free and open source software (FOSS)
- An analysis of the market orientation of software production in developing in countries.