The need for Nigeria to think outside the box in its need to drive towards global relevance with innovations and scientific developments will be on the front burner at the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) Innovative and Scientific Conference scheduled to hold tomorrow in Lagos.
 
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will lead other delegates to discuss and take far-reaching decisions at the event, which has its theme as “Bridging Nigeria’s Digital Divide with Scientific Innovation.”
 
Other companies that have indicated interest in partnering with NITRA include mobile communications company, Tecno; Africa’s premier end-to-end AI solutions company, Hyperspace; and telecommunications data infrastructure company, Digital Realty.
 
Speaking on the proposed event, the Chairman, NITRA, Chike Onwuegbuchi, noted that the event will seek to create a platform for government and private organisations to deliberate on policies around scientific innovations in Nigeria, challenges, the place of indigenous and foreign collaboration, the roles of each stakeholder, and grassroots development in that regard, among others.
 
According to him: “The Federal government, with a series of programmes and partnerships, has established the urgent need to create an ecosystem that thrives on scientific innovation, breeding institutions and individuals with a target of placing the country at the forefront of Next-Gen development.
 
It is a known fact that digital and scientific innovations are crucial, not only to the survivability of a nation, but also to the sustainability of its growth and development, with a significant effect on economic strength, global image, defence and security, government capabilities to function, and public health and safety, communication and digital footprint among others.