‘Government should leverage broadband to rebound economy’

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

According to the organiser of the Nigeria ICT Impact CEO Forum (NIICF) and Africa Digital Awards ADA, Tayo Adewusi, the power of broadband technology to transform and catalyse economies and social growth cannot be over emphasised.

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.

“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,” he stated.

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.

According to him, the ICT Impact CEO Forum would be chaired by the Minister of Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu, while the EVC/CEO of NCC, Prof. Umaru Danbatta; Ag. DG of NITDA, Dr. Vincent Olatunji; and Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, will be the Keynote Speakers.