National Daily

Forum discusses ICT development

A forum to discuss the way forward for ICT development in 2008 have noted that “the tools of ICT have the capacity to make information and services more widely available, thus improving chances of the poorest in Society”.

The position was enunciated at the maiden event of the Technology Times Outlook 2008 held at the Muson Centre, Lagos, last week.
The summit which created a unique platform for thorough appraisal of ICT developments that will shape and define the Nigerian economy in 2008 and beyond, had speakers cutting across the broad ICT ecosystem in Nigeria who addressed issues across the broad segments of the industry, including Managing Director, Galaxy Backbone PLC, Gerald Ilukwe; Founder/ CEO, Linkserve Limited, Chima Onyekwere; Managing Director, Nigeria Communications Satellite Company (NigComSat) Ahmed Rufai and GM, Regulatory Affairs, Wale Goodluck, among others.

According to the Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Plc, Gerald Ilukwe, “the tools of ICT have the capacity to make information and services more widely available, thus improving chances of the poorest in Society”.

Adding that “In Nigeria and Africa these are majority of the people-over 60 percent of Nigerians live below $1 a day. In order for these tools to be successfully used, all those involved in development require information and communication that are accessible, cheap and widely available, particularly in the poorer and hard to-reach rural areas”, he added.

The forum highlighted the positive contributions that the technology sector continues to play in growing the economy.

Summit speakers set the agenda for various existing and emerging issues, policies and challenges that ICT industry players, vendors and end users should anticipate in 2008.

Some of the issues raised are: the unfolding paradigm of open access in the Nigerian public sector, importance of business intelligence in Nigerian organisations, policy review of the telecoms industry, indigenous participation in the ICT sector, supply chain managements for Nigerian businesses, Nigeria and the satellite alternative amongst others.

As regards the Nigerian Telecoms Policy, General Manager, Regulatory Affairs, MTN Nigeria said that there needs to be a review to address policy inconsistencies in the NTP.

Judging from the fact that the policy has not been reviewed since its formulation in 2000, he said that a more focused and aligned policy direction should be sort after.