The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • Digital finance to boost GDP by $3.7tr

    Digital finance to boost GDP by $3.7tr

    BROADENING  access   to  digital finance tools could increase Nigeria’s and other developing countries’ gross domestic product (GDP) by an estimated $3.7 trillion, a market leader in the e-payment industry, Global Accelerex, has said.

    The firm however lamented that a combination of factors such as low income level, large rural population, financial illiteracy, poor coverage by banks, unprofitability for traditional banking and lack of innovation by financial institutions have continued to promote financial exclusion in the country.

    Its CEO, Tunde Ogungbade, who spoke on: Digital Payment: Prospects and Challenges of a Financially Inclusive Nigeria in Lagos at Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA’s) Third Quarterly Seminar in Lagos at the weekend, said digital payment will help manage money more effectively with new ways to save, make payments, access credit, or obtain insurance.

    According to him, people will spend less time taking care of simple financial transactions and more on productive work or running a small business of their own, adding that digital financial services increases consumer activity and trade

    He said the Financial Access Survey (FAS) 2017 data show progress in some of the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and innovations in financial access, such as mobile making inroads, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) which increased the use of digitalised payment from 11.49 in 2012 to 16.73 in 2016 per 100,000 adults.

    According to him, the data also showed reduction in the number of physical traditional bank branches from 5.81 in 2012 to 5.36 in 2016 per 100, 000 adults, adding that it showed there had been level of adoption in digitalised mobile money payment indicating 34.26 per 1000 adults.

    He said the percentage of adult Nigerians that do not have access to financial services fell from 46.3 per cent in 2010 to 39.7 per cent and it is expected to fall to 20 per cent in 2020.

    He said at least 70per cent of adult Nigerians should have access to payment services in 2020 while  60per cent should have access to savings and 40 per cent each to credit, insurance and pensions by 2020.

    “Channels through which people can access the services such as branches of banks, microfinance banks, number of ATMs, mobile agents, PoS, agents of deposit money banks are also expected to increase to specified target numbers per 100,000 adults in 2020,” he said.

    According to him, there are three major stakeholders in the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS). These are the providers: financial institutions and partner infrastructure and technology providers; enablers: regulators and public institutions responsible for setting regulations and policies in respect of financial inclusion; partners and experts: supporters of Nigeria in meeting its economic objectives and delivering on their technical assistance mandates.

    All these stakeholders are put together in the execution of the strategies to tackle financial inclusion in Nigeria, he said.

     

  • Impact of kids’ early exposure to technology

    Impact of kids’ early exposure to technology

    Technology is a moving train that has impacted every facet of human society. Experts say three critical factors for healthy physical and psychological child development are movement, touch and connection to other humans which the advent of technology has snapped. They averred that kids require about four hours daily of active rough and tumble play to achieve adequate sensory stimulation to their vestibular, proprioceptive and tactile systems for normal development. LUCAS AJANAKU reports, however, that guided access to technology for kids could make a difference.

    New and emerging technologies have always been associated with the younger generations. Older people tend to be set in their ways, leaving tech-savvy millennials in the forefront of discovering and embracing new devices as they arrive on the scene. Younger people learn more quickly and that goes for technology in the same way it goes for everything else.

    Writing on: The Impact of Technology on Child Sensory and Motor Development, an occupational therapist, Cris Rowan, said technology’s impact on the 21st century family is fracturing its very foundation and causing a disintegration of core values that used to hold families together.

    Juggling work, home and community lives, parents now rely heavily on information communications technology (ICT) and transportation technolaqogy to make their lives faster and more efficient.

    Entertainment technology (TV, internet, video games, iPods) has advanced so rapidly that families have scarcely noticed the significant impact and changes to their family structure and lifestyles.

    She said elementary aged children use, on average, eight hours per day of entertainment technology, and 65 per cent of these children, have TVs in their bedroom, with 50per cent of North American homes have the Tv on all day. “Add emails, cell phones, internet surfing, and chat lines, and we begin to see the pervasive aspects of technology on our home lives and family milieu,” she wrote.

    She argued that children’s developing sensory and motor systems have not evolved biologically to accommodate the sedentary, yet frenzied and chaotic nature of today’s technology.

    Rapidly advancing technology has contributed to an increase of physical, psychological and behavior disorders that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand.

    An urgent closer look at the critical factors for meeting developmental milestones, and the subsequent impact of technology on those factors, would assist parents, teachers and health professionals to better understand the complexities of this issue and to help create effective strategies to reduce technology use

    But the Research and Development (R&D) Unit of Yudala, Nigeria’s fastest growing online and offline e-commerce outfit, said its recent studies show that active or interactive technology and screen time can actually help develop and improve kid’s learning, when used appropriately.

    After a review of the Kids Legacy Tab, a new product designed by Nigeria’s foremost technology company, Zinox Technologies Ltd., the Research and Development Unit of Yudala, arrived at some ways children can benefit from early exposure to modern technology.

    The researchers believe the development of mathematics skills is very important as they say younger children are more interested in the short-term goals of games, which are essential in problem solving. Logic games, obstacle courses and other applications on tech devices go a long way to help build child’s basic mathematic skills by imbuing them with the capacity for quantitative reasoning. For parents, this is very important as the phobia or apathy often expressed by most people for mathematics is often a result of wrong or late to exposure to its usefulness in the analysis and interpretation of real-world quantitative information.

    The team also found that improvement in language skills is achieved through early exposure to technology. Designed as a critical foundational tool for kids between ages three and 13, the Kids Legacy Tab ranks as one of the most fitting gadgets to introduce kids to technology in learning the English language.

    It addresses issue such as pronunciation. There are many such applications and games to help boost their vocabulary and teach them to look for word meanings when they come across an unfamiliar word.

    Exposure to games and other relevant applications on tech devices can help raise a generation of more visually attentive kids. This is because a significant amount of attention to detail is required on the part of kids when exposed to visually-stimulating contents on tablets and other entry-level gadgets. A device, such as the Kids Legacy Tab, which comes pre-loaded with over 50 educational and fun games can help build the requisite attention to detail and capacity for visual attention in children.

    The researchers say it early exposure of kids to technology promotes emotional intelligence. They say these are buzzwords that are becoming increasingly relevant in the contemporary work-place. Most organisations today prioritise the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. This quality can be developed in the child right from an early age through exposure to technology. There are numerous emotional intelligence apps pre-loaded on tablets which teach kids what emotions are, how they work, and how to use them and manage them for social interaction and learning. Among other things, these applications teach a child how to recognise other people’s emotions, to discriminate among the different feelings, and to label them appropriately. Armed with this insight, the child can learn from an early age how to refrain from emotional outbursts and undisciplined loss of self-control, thus leading to a well-rounded personality.

    Exposing kids to technology could help build discipline and self-motivation, two qualities that are ultimately crucial to the child’s future development. A lot of games and activities on tech devices such as the Kids Legacy Tab often require the user to complete a task in order to progress to another level. To complete the entire course requires a huge dose of mental discipline and personal resolve. As a result, exposure to these learning apps inadvertently challenges a child and pushes him/her to strive to go the extra lengths in order to enjoy the thrill and satisfaction that comes from achieving. The child, therefore, develops a disciplined mindset that sees challenges as surmountable as long as he/she keeps trying to overcome them. This is effortlessly transferred to real-life situations.

    The researchers also believe exposing kids to technology spurs the development of new talents. This is because technology can help unearth hitherto-hidden skills and talents in the child. From being exposed to playing certain musical instruments or skills such as painting on the screen of a tablet, for instance, the child can develop keen interest which may see him/her becoming proficient at these activities. With the aid of technology which bridges the gap, parents may not even have to pay the hefty fees of enrolling the child in a physical music or painting class to learn. There are loads of apps that the child can take advantage of to learn and become the next Mozart or Leonardo da Vinci. Early exposure to technology has the potential to unlock amazing new interests in the child which coupled with the natural curiosity in kids, can transform them into a whiz-kid.

    The researchers however say caution in vital in all these. It is important to mention that parental supervision is key. A child should not be given a tablet without supervision. Handing over a tech device to your child requires a great level of responsibility so, as a parent, be sure to trust your instinct. However, the fact is allowing children have access to tech devices can benefit them in many ways.

    “As a parent, you may understandably be nervous at first, but there are some real, tangible benefits from exposing your child to tech devices such as tablets. Most experts recommend not more than a half hour of screen time per sitting for a child. This is bearing in mind that tablets may be addictive for children because it allows quick, instant access to everything in the real world. As long as parents do their best to monitor, protect, and prepare their children and usage doesn’t get out of hand, technology exposure can provide great opportunities for children to grow and develop that you may not have anticipated,” the researchers said.

    Rowan said though the benefits of advanced technology in today’s world are immense, connection to devices may have resulted in disconnection from what society should value most.

    “Rather than providing children with more video games, TVs in the car, and the latest iPods and cell phone devices, creating a deep and widening chasm between parent and child, let’s resolve to do more hugging, playing, rough housing, and conversing with our children,” she wrote.

     

     

  • Manufacturing, healthcare leverage technology, says MainOne

    The manufacturing and healthcare sectors have leveraged technology to reduce inefficiencies,  and improve production capabilities and customer care even during harsh operating climes at its MDXi, a Tier III datacentre, MainOne, has said.

    It said such companies have been able to streamline their information technology (IT) infrastructure while guaranteeing best-in-class up time and connectivity to their businesses.

    Its Head of Marketing, Tayo Ashiru, who spoke on the sideline of a breakfast meeting at the Renaissance Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, said the company had technology solutions that businesses have adopted and successfully implemented to ensure success in today’s marketplace.

    The forum, which had: Future proofing your business with ICT as theme was attended by business executives and IT heads of leading manufacturing and healthcare companies in the country.

    “MainOne is not just a service provider but also a partner to businesses. We have made significant investments in leading technologies to enable Nigerian businesses increase operating efficiency and achieve improved results faster. These solutions are available from our open access, Tier III certified data centre, MDXi,” he said.

    The main panel session had representatives from leading healthcare and manufacturing firms, such as UAC of Nigeria Plc, Reddington Hospitals, Avon HMO and Honeywell Flour, discussing the benefits of leveraging technology for business transformation and how such has helped them achieve organisational goals.

    Avon HMO CEO, Adesimbo Ukiri, said leveraging MainOne’s services helped the organisation to remove the barrier to health care access in teh country as patients could easily subscribe to various Avon HMO health plans online at the click of a button.

    “As a business, we also could not afford to have a downtime considering the very sensitive nature of healthcare. Having our servers at MainOne’s datacentre decreased our downtime risks and, so far, we have not had any downtime with MainOne. ICT also provides us with better customer data analytics which enables us to give our customers the best experience,” she said.

    Joseph Udem of Reddington Hospital said being on the MainOne network has evolved the Hospital Record Management (HRM) process from manual to digital, connected all the offices in various locations and improved accessibility to customers. “We also use the same network via a separate pipe to provide free Wi-Fi services to our customers so that they can keep in touch and remain at ease while at our facilities,” Udem said.

    An official of UAC Nigeria Plc, said as a large enterprise, the firm had to run several server rooms in multiple regions across the country all requiring 24/7 power, workers and security accruing huge capital and operating costs which was not sustainable.

    “In trying to align our IT goals to the business objectives, we needed to consolidate all our business critical servers at a Tier III facility which made us engage MainOne. The business savings and efficiency from the first year were extremely notable, so much so that we have won numerous awards in our sector for driving business efficiency and innovation,” he said.

     

    The general consensus of the panelist was that the benefits of technology to any industry cannot be over emphasised and successfully future-proofing business and making smart investments in new technology can transform businesses, improve efficiency, productivity and profitability.

  • NOTAP: Banks to run on local apps

    The National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) has said banks will soon adopt local software to boost the sector and stop capital flight caused by reliance on offshore applications by banks.

    Its Director-General, Dr. Dan Azumi Mohammed Ibrahim, gave the assurance in Lagos during a meeting with Information Communication Technology (ICT) editors.

    He said the agency secured over 30 patents for agencies and private researchers with scientific intellectual properties this year.

    Nigeria loses  billions of naira to capital flight yearly as a result of the reliance of local lenders, private enterprises and government agencies on foreign applications.

    He expressed optimism that with the situation on ground, dependence on offshore application would be a thing of the past in the next five years

    .

    Ibrahim said protecting scientific intellectual properties was crucial in encouraging Nigerians to engage in demand-driven research, which would translate into viable products and services for economic growth.

    He said: “Before NOTAP’s intervention in carrying out preliminary search and evaluation of the patentability of scientific inventions in Nigeria, the process of obtaining patent was rigorous.

    “But in close partnership with the Chief Register, Trademark, Patents and Design Registry, Williams Kaftin, the situation is changing as NOTAP has secured about 38 patents for agencies and private researchers in the first half of the year.”

    He added that the agency also conducts patent search regularly in order to avoid duplication of intellectual properties.

    Ibrahim said the agency further introduced NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) to train skilled manpower on industry relevant research projects. He added that NITTF, sustained by voluntary contributions from the industrial sector, would bridge the gap between industry needs and academia in the country.

    “NOTAP observed a gap between the requirement of the industry and the research results from our knowledge institutions. This gap is that our industries rely on the research results of foreign research while the research results from our institutions do not meet the needs of industries.”

    “To solve the problem and create a robust linkage between the academia and industry, NOTAP established NITTF aimed at training high level manpower on industry relevant research projects as a way of linking industry to academia,” he said.

     

  • Telcos, subscribers seek NCC’s SIM reg requirements review

    Telcos, subscribers seek NCC’s SIM reg requirements review

    Increasingly, telecoms subscribers are showing interest in the quality of services (QoS) they get from their carriers. The monthly Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has become a veritable platform for both consumers and the regulator to cross-pollinate ideas on how to develop the industry. The 81st edition of the TCP, which was held in Lagos, provided an opportunity for the telcos and subscribers to seek a review of the subscriber identity module (SIM) card registration guidelines of the NCC, among other issues, writes LUCAS AJANAKU.

    Telcos and subscribers have complained bitterly about the strict subscriber identity module (SIM) card registration requirements by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    Particularly, they complained about the rigorous process they have to pass through when trying to retrieve lost SIM cards from their service providers.

    Subscribers, who spoke during the 81st Edition of Telecoms Consumer Parliament (TCP) in Lagos at the weekend, said the regulator should do something about the strict guidelines, which are hurting them.

    A subscriber, who identified herself as Angela, complained about her experience with her service provider two months ago. According to her, her mobile phone was stolen and she promptly notified her service provider about the development, asking the carrier to block the line from making or receiving calls because she did not want criminals to use her phone number to make calls.

    “After getting the line blocked, I went to the customer service centre of my telco for SIM swap. I was completely shocked by the very hard and fast rules spelt out for me to meet. I was asked to name three numbers I usually call, present an identity card (either a valid drivers’ licence, international passport, national identity card or a permanent voter’s card (PVC). As at the time of making efforts to retrieve my SIM, aside my international passport, which was with the South African embassy for visa application, I also had my staff identity card. After deposing to an affidavit that the SIM card belonged to me and that it was stolen, my service provider insisted that I should present my great grand-father death certificate, who died four decades ago.

    “The most frustrating aspect of the issue was that efforts by officials of the Public Affairs Department to intervene proved abortive. These requirements are too hard and fast in a dynamic industry,” she said on the sideline at the forum.

    Reacting at a panel discussion, which had representatives of the telcos and the NCC, the telcos lamented,  had written to the regulator about subscribers’  complaints over the issue, but had not got any reprieve.

    The telcos blamed the pains subscribers go through on the SIM registration requirements of the NCC.

    A Deputy Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau, at NCC, Ephraim Nwokenneya, explained that some unscrupulous elements leveraged the loopholes in the system, impersonating people and committing fraud.

    Also speaking, NCC’s Director, Licensing and Authorisation, Ms Funlola Akiyode, said the regulator received a letter from the telcos, but said the NCC will look at the issue, arguing that the regulator will not rush to change the rules.

    She said the fact that the telcos had written would not make the regulator change the rules overnight, insisting that the regulator is proactive and is abreast with developments in the sector.

    Starting in 2007, the NCC begun the process for SIM registration, but the process only got finalised in 2011 with the enactment of SIM Registration Regulations.

    Key objective of the exercise is to create a central database of all users of telecoms services in Nigeria, regardless of medium. Other objectives include facilitating know your customer (KYC) for adjacent agencies, such as Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and others.

    NCC’s actions, Akiyode said, were hinged on assisting law enforcement and security agencies to fight the growing level of insurgency in the Northeast and criminality (in the South), noting that some subscribers abused anonymity to embarrass, defraud or carry out illegitimate activities.

    “Unregistered SIMs have been implicated in acts of kidnapping, financial crimes (419) and others while registration/location information have been used successfully to track down criminals. It was also discovered that SIMs can be used to detonate explosive devices,” she said.

    NCC’s SIM Registration Regulations set forth very clear requirements for subscriber registration. For biometric information: four fingerprints; and clear facial image of the subscriber collected in accordance with the agreed registration specifications.

    Personal information:  full names;   mother’s maiden name; gender; date of birth; residential address;  nationality; state of origin;  occupation and  contact details.

    Proof of identity: any of the following must be sighted: National Identity Card, International Passport; Driver’s License; Letter of authentication by traditional ruler/community leader affixed with passport photograph (in rural areas).

    Data quality must be in accordance with registration specifications in digital image standards, data dictionary and others.

    Confidentiality of registration information: personal information not to be released without subscribers’ prior written consent, or transferred abroad without NCC’s prior written consent.

    Represented at the event by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, Sunday Dare, NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Dmabatta, said the telecoms consumer remained central to the commission, adding that it informed the declaration of the year as that of the telecoms consumer, which is consistent with the eight-point agenda set out in 2015 when he mounted the saddle.

    “The number two and six items of the agenda are the core drivers of the NCC year of telecoms consumer initiative. While the number two of the agenda addresses improved quality of service, item six is concerned with protection of and empowerment of the telecoms consumers.

    “It must be emphasised that all NCC initiatives such as SIM card registration, mobile number portability, broadband policy implementation, development of 2442 and 622 short codes as well as various consumers awareness campaigns are to ensure consumer satisfaction and protection.

    “The NCC has declared 2017 the Year of Telecom Consumer. The focus of the declaration are: continuous improvement of quality; ubiquitous and affordable service to the consumer; increasing our consultative engagement with the consumer to always service the needs of the consumer positively; ensuring that services yield the result of improving consumer experience by supporting better access to life changing and improvement opportunities, access to governance services, business and career development, quality education and social engagement; increasing consumer information and education as well as consumer-centric regulatory governance and policy administration,” Dambatta said.

    A short video vox pop conducted by the regulator and played at the event showed that many telecoms consumers are still far from getting the quality of service they expected from their service providers. While a subscriber alleged that his service provider gives only data but no service. “If I get a call and I want to pick it, I will just hear message,” she said.

    A female National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Enitan, lamented very poor data quality while another, Esther, lamented poor service quality at Okelewo, Abeokuta. Other subscribers, Jonathan, Supo, Ajewole and Olanrewaju were also not happy with the current tariff regime, which they claimed is too expensive. They urged the NCC to set a timeline for improved service  stiffer punishment for nonperforming telco. According to Olanrewaju, who resides in Akure, Ondo State, most text messages from the thelcos were  unsolicited ones.

    While some subscribers lauded NCC regulatory intervention, others want it to do more in creating awareness about 2442 and 622 short codes, whose existence they claimed ignorance of.

     

  • NIMC chief faults identification system

    NATIONAL Identity Management Commission (NIMC)  Director-General, Aliyu Aziz, has faulted the identification system, arguing that it cannot foster economic growth.

    To him, only the National Identification Number (NIN) has the key to the realisation of the Economic Growth and Recovery Plan (EGRP) of the government.

    He said the NIN will help the government to effectively deliver  services, adding that the government’s plan to strengthen fiscal management and promote good governance and transparency required  identifying citizens, this can be achieved only with the NIN, Aziz said.

    He spoke on:  Innovative Developments Supporting Evolving Digital Economy  at the 2017 INDO – AFRICA ICT Expo, organised by the Telecom Equipment & Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC) in Lagos.

    According to him, Nigeria’s fragmented identity ecosystem has remained a deterrent to the growth of basic amenities required to realise a reasonable standard of living for the people. This means that key economic challenges, including improving security, rebuilding the economy and tackling corruption in the country had not been tackled because there was no comprehensive central database to guide the provision of those needs.

    He said: “Although Nigeria has the potential to be a major player in the global economy, it has continued to struggle with the development and the provision of very basic amenities such as education, healthcare, potable water, food, and housing due to the lack of a central database to aid planning and policy making.”

    The NIMC, according to him, has a mandate to populate the National Identity Database (NIDB) with citizen’s data and NIN, as well as ensure that every registered person can be easily and quickly verified and their identities authenticated with the NIN.

    “The NIN is a very significant component of the National Identity Management System (NIMS). It is a non-intelligent 11 digit number, issued to individuals upon successful enrolment into the database

    “The NIN is a unique identifier, a requisite for the economic, social and political progress which can be verified and authenticated by institutions and persons in both the public and private sector, using the verification and authentication platforms already deployed by NIMC,” he said.

    He also said institutions and organisations aiming to scale up the digital economy may not be able to offer innovative products and services to consumers without proper identification as all modern economic services globally are done digitally and rely on proper identification.

  • Take advantage of IoT, Vodacom advises entrepreneurs

    The Managing Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria, Lanre Kolade, has advised business owners to take advantage of the era of Internet of Things (IoT) to grow their businesses, minimise cost, maximise profit and reap other benefits.

    Kolade, old techpreneurs and captains of tech firms at NigeriaCom 2017 forum organised by Informa Telecoms Group, that IoT has become one of the world’s fastest growing technologies, said across all industries, IoT solutions have been adopted to provide a host of different benefits from increased return on investment (RoI) to developing stronger relationships with customers with far reaching benefits.

    According to him, telcos  are facing a period of flat growth for core services and significant decline in Average Revenue Per User (ARPU).

    This drastic change, he said, threatens the survival of the telecoms industry as substantial declines in user spending on voice and text services have caused a significant dip in revenue.

    He said IoT has delivered a big growth opportunity for the industry due to the volume of connections expected and experts have projected that the market will have a global reach.  Kolade advised telcos to adapt to the changing times and source other revenue streams to replace what is being lost in the continuing revolution of communications.

    “IoT offers significant growth potential and the opportunity to take a role in new vertical markets, such as automotive, healthcare and smart cities. As these sectors seek to adopt more IoT services, the opportunities that exist are vast. Whether you are a hardware manufacturer or connectivity reseller.

    “Adding IoT solutions to your portfolio will open up new revenue streams from selling hardware, software and connectivity services, to a broad range of value-added services, such as consulting, integration and support.  Telcos will have to look at the IoT as a potential revenue generator to offset the declining revenues from core services,” he said.

    According to him, by 2020, more than seven billion people and businesses, and over 30 billion devices, will be connected to the internet. “The question is no longer about the adoption of IoT, but rather its application to drive business success,” he argued, adding that Vodacom’s IoT solutions support wireless payment devices and e-readers, energy usage and smart metering, chilling cabinets, remote asset monitoring systems and community health management solutions.

    Vodacom recently partnered Kaduna State government to launch a mobile technology-based healthcare programme tagged: “SMS for Life 2.0”, which aims to increase the availability of essential medication by monitoring drug stock levels and improving the delivery of healthcare for citizens via access public health services.

    Vodacom is the technology partner for the initiative, which is a public-private partnership (PPP) with Novartis and the Kaduna State Ministry of Health. Vodacom has concluded the training and deployment of SMS for Life 2.0 in Kaduna, with over 250 facilities, using the platform to date. The initiative is planned to be implemented in all the 36 states of the federation.

  • How prepared is Nigeria for cyber attacks?

    How prepared is Nigeria for cyber attacks?

    As technology and the internet continue to evolve, the world is rapidly becoming a global village, with almost everything running on the cyber space affecting most aspects of human lives, enabling growth, dismantling barriers to commerce and allowing people across the globe to communicate, collaborate and exchange ideas. But hackers are becoming more sophisticated by the day. A report by Blacksentry urges the Federal Government to do more to secure the nation’s space, reports LUCAS AJANAKU.

    Over 47.4 per cent of Nigerians use the internet, according to a  World Bank’s figure released in 2015. Clearly, this rate should have increased by now. With the increased rate of cyberattacks, it is expedient to analyse our readiness and consider the cost in terms of value that will be lost as result of an attack.

    A researcher/network security engineer at Blacksentry (a division of Layer3), Lois Eko, said the report attempted to analyse the readiness of Nigeria on cyber security. Bearing in mind that ‘cyber-security’ may not necessarily be a new terminology in Nigeria’s Information Comunication Technology (ICT) ecosystem, an analysis of its readiness is most crucial at this point, especially now that a detailed plan and strategy called the ‘National Cybersecurity Policy/Strategy’ has been drawn out.

     

    Current state

     

    Going back in time, Nigeria could safely be assumed to be one of the most peaceful nations of the world in terms of terrorism. Then came the cases of terrorist attacks that have skyrocketed to an unimaginable state, even up to the level of being blacklisted as a terrorist nation. Former President Goodluck  Jonathan in July 2014 admitted that the intensity of terrorist attacks took the Federal Government and security agencies unawares.

    The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in 2013, said it expected cyber threats to surpass terrorism threats in a few years to come, and some good evidences to this report are daily being confirmed with terror attacks in Britain, France and other parts of the world.

    The unfortunate reality is a new terrorism attack gradually brewing with more sophisticated weaponry. This attack may not be a close combat as with Boko-Haram, but can be comparable in the cyber space context. Just as how the ‘Boko-Haram’ terrorist attacks could not be imagined to be the fate of Nigerians, evolving to the stage of participating in high-scale cybercrimes in Nigeria still feels like a level we cannot get to.

    The financial sector has been reported to be the most information telecommunications (IT) driven sector into the country. Little wonder the most pervasive crimes in the country till date remain electronic fraud using automated teller machine (ATM) cards and electronic banking platforms.

    The Nigerian financial sector losses an estimated $450million to digital fraud and with the move to a ‘Cashless Society’, cyber-predators are lurking just around the corner.

    Several reports have shown Nigerian hackers participating in malicious activities on the global cyber sphere such as the $3 billion heist recently reported by the FBI that affected over 500 companies in over 50 countries including Germany, United Arab Emirates (UAE), India and Russia.

    A recent report has shown that Nigerian hackers who were formally known to use less sophisticated hacking techniques have evolved into using RAT’s and Key-loggers. With this much improvement by the attackers, the question is:  in case of attacks, do we have  the adequate capacity and measures in place to stay afloat?

    Cyber-attacks termed as ‘Cyber-war’ could range from Website Hijacking, Distributed Denial of Service (DDS) to espionage to mention a few. In Nigeria, it was reported that the website of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was hacked on the 2015 presidential election day. Such forms of attacks are becoming more popular in recent times.

    According to the research findings, tive key threats identified as core challenges to the nation are:

    These threats have endangering implications on the nation’s active participation in the cyber-space.

    The office of the National Security Adviser in 2015, developed a common framework that aggregates Nigeria’s collective response towards addressing the challenges in tackling cybersecurity in its ‘National Security Policy’. The National Security Policy outlines the actions government and other stakeholders will take to mitigate the risks and secure the gains of our continuous dependence on the cyberspace.

    There is no doubt that a critical look at Nigeria’s cybersecurity readiness and measures being put in place to combat cybercrime is more needed now than ever. Behind this increase in technology advancement lies new risks that threaten the economy and the security of the citizenry.

    Nigeria was ranked fourth among African countries for its preparedness to fight cybercrime according to a report by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The union judged its member states on five core pillars including – legal, technical, organisational, capacity building and cooperation. This could be said to be an achieved milestone towards a bigger goal.

    Other African countries that occupied the top-most positions are listed below with a brief summary of what these nations have done to achieve this feat.

     

    Mauritius

     

    This is the top ranked country in the Africa region with particularly high scores in the legal and the technical areas. Their Botnet Tracking and Detection project allow the Computer Emergency Response Team of Mauritius (CERT-MU) to proactively monitor and take measures to mitigate threats on networks within the country. The IT security unit of the government conducted 180 awareness sessions for 2000 civil servants in 32 government ministries and departments to ensuring a good stand in capacity building among workers.

     

    Rwanda

     

    This country was ranked second in Africa with high scores in the organisational pillar. Rwanda’s stand alone cybersecurity policy, which is committed to developing a stronger cybersecurity industry to ensure a stronger cyber space addresses both private and public sectors.

     

    Kenya

     

    Kenya was ranked third in the Africa with high scores in ‘cooperation through its National Kenya Computer Incident Response Team Coordination Centre (National KECIRT/CC). The National Kenya CIRT coordinates across global, national and regional levels.

    Globally it liaises with ITU, FIRST, U.S. and Japan CIRTs among others; nationally, it liaises with other internet service providers (ISPs), the financial and educational sectors, and regionally it works with other CIRTS through the East African Communications Organisation.

     

    Way forward:

     

    Identification of critical national infrastructure

     

    In trying to tackle challenges posed by cyber threats as a country, a major consideration should be to identify our most critical infrastructures, identify vulnerabilities in them and analyse the typical risks to each of these systems.

    An example of a critical infrastructure includes systems hosting classified national security information amongst others. A long-term detailed plan that will guide investments in securing our infrastructure should be devised.

     

    Setting out plans

     

    Nigeria will do well to set her plans across the five core pillars that were used by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – legal, technical, organisational, capacity building and cooperation.

    Taking an example from the countries that have already gone ahead, they had their national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) saddled with liaising and respon-ding to cyber emergency cases.

    Nigeria has done well to come up with her own NG-CERT, which should work towards proactively monitoring and taking measures to mitigate threats on networks within the country.

    The Bank Verification Number (BVN) implementation was a good start by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has reportedly reduced electronic payment fraud by 63 per cent and attempted online fraud by 45.98 per cent.

     

    Integration of govt data

     

    An equally significant measure should be proposed for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to link all their databases. This will help achieve ‘data harmonisation’, which will, in turn, assist cyber forensic/assurance specialists overcome the cybersecurity challenges in Nigeria. A data harmonisation approach could save cost by channeling defence resources to a single pane of glass.

     

    Develop cybersecurity

    capacity

     

    As a nation, Nigeria should work towards developing capacity for cybersecurity. A massive investment in training initiatives for students and workers, wide-scale Federal Government and private sector scholarships for students with interests in cybersecurity and the inculcation of cybersecurity in our school curriculum are all good ways to start. The country needs to win the future and it can be won by educating the present.

    The enactment of the cybercrime bill into law was a good start for the country. A national budget that caters for the research development and other demands of cybersecurity should be of topmost priority.  All routes to cyber capacity development must be explored.

     

    Establish national cyber command centre

     

    Nigeria could build a National Cyber Command Centre that will be the go-to centre for cyber security in the country and will facilitate cyber intelligence integration for all government parastatals and private institutions in Nigeria.

    Collaboration among stakehol-ders and cyber-intelligence sharing is key to having a united front against cyber terrorism.

    It will be difficult to estimate the level of damage a successful catastrophic cyber-attack may cause on Nigeria’s fragile economy, but it recommended that the country stay prepared while still being relatively safe than looking for escape routes when caught unawares.

  • Driving local content through collaboration

    Driving local content through collaboration

    The success stories of the enactment of the Local Content Law in the oil and gas industry cannot only be seen in the increased local participation of indigenous players in the upstream, midstream and downstream subsectors of the industry; it is also in the reduction of capital flight. Nigerian carriers say local content in the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector could be acheived through collaboration, LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

    The strategic importance of local content in the information communications technology (ICT) sector and the opportunities inherent in the pursuit of Local Content in Nigeria appear to be limitless.

    ICT is crosscutting and it is an enabler for growth and development and will address the science and technology deficit noticeable in the economy as well as provide maximum benefit to the citizenry.

    The Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) said the much-expected growth in the ICT sector can only be realised through closer international cooperation and strategic collaboration with a county, such as India that has demonstrated its love for ICT and has recorded a great feat in that regard.

    Its President, Olusola Teniola, who presented a paper at a forum in Lagos, identified the 10 key strategies contained in the Geneva Action Plan, which Africa’s Heads of States and Government agreed to and signed at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December 2013 to include:  connect villages with ICTs and community access points; connect universities, colleges, secondary schools, and primary school with ICTs; connect scientific and research centres with ICTs; connect public libraries, cultural centres, museum, post office and archives with ICTs; connect health centres and hospital with ICTs; and connect all local government departments and establish websites and email addresses.

    Others are adapt all primary and secondary school curricula to meet the challenges of the information society taking into account national circumstance; ensure that all of the world’s population has access to television and radio services; ensure that more than half the world’s inhabitants have access to ICTs within their reach; and encourage the development of content and to put in place technical condition in order to facilitate the presence and use of internet.

    It was also agreed that nations would operate within their economic strengths as they attend to these action plans aimed at bringing about a global information society, he added.

    He said it is a fact as evidenced by development from other countries that ICT as a sector can contribute immensely to the national GDP of a country and that ICT as an enabler, can result in improved market competitiveness of a nation’s products and services. ICT can impact positively on governance and other sectors of an economy and in turn ICT can effectively assist international economic integration, improve living standards and narrow the digital divide.

    The digital divide can be narrowed and poverty reduction can be addressed through effective and focused utilisation of ICTs in key sectors such as education, industry and agriculture, ATCON said.

    He said the adoption of ICT requires a business environment that encourages open competition, trust and security, interoperability, standardisation and financial resources for development.

    This requires the urgent implementation of sustainable measures to improve access to the internet and telecoms infrastructure and increase ICT literacy as well as development of local internet based content.

    Africa countries like most developing countries still depend on content developed and managed in the developed world and as a result substantial costs are incurred while trying to access this content.

    Efforts should be directed to make ICT content available in local languages if they are to be demystified, adopted and utilised by the local user.

    ATCON said ICT’s goals in Nigeria should be to establish an environment that encourages networking of services and applications; promoting programmes for goods and services; promoting internet access to exchanges and access to digital content; establishing e-government; promoting e-education and online service; strengthen network security; building and develop an e-society and our ICT human capacity.

    The benefits of liberalising the telecom and ICT sector will not accrue to Nigeria’s teeming population until necessary actions are taken by the government at all levels through strategic collaboration with a country that has already shown a science and technology development and achievement in their own country.

     

    Structure

     

    It is obvious that the structure of Nigeria’s telecoms and ICT sector is not really beneficial to Nigeria as a country in terms of foreign exchange (forex) earnings because most of the inputs in the sector are imported from the developed countries and very little value-add exported.

    If the Federal Government wants to pursue Nigerian Local Content development vigorously as a nation with the intention of increasing its impact on revenue, it must devise a means of producing some of those inputs locally and creating more value add and innovation on the remaining that we cannot manufacture locally.

    The liberalisation of the sector has attracted circa $68billion or more of investments to the country to date. The Office of the Nigeria Local Content (ONC) under National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) still needs to create the opportunities for Nigeria’s ICT to develop solutions tailored to the country’s citizens’ needs and then develop the local skills to monetise the youth talent that is latent in producing value-added ICT products and services that can be exported to other parts of Africa and the rest of the world.

    The ICT industry is further challenged to reduce or eradicate the continuous unemployment of the Nigerian youth (both skilled and unskilled) as a matter of utmost urgency and there is need to work out a collaborative agreement with the aim of transferring some of India’s technical know-how to Nigerians and we pray that all relevant government agencies in Nigeria will support this initiative as it would certainly accelerate as well as give a boost to our local productive capacity.

     

    Collaboration

    Some of the resultant effects of collaborating with India to foster Nigerian local content include:

    • Create jobs

    This strategic collaboration can reduce the number of Nigerians who are unemployed as this would make them to have the required and needed knowledge to be gainfully employed in the telecom and ICT sector.

    • Dependence on expatriate

    The strategic collaboration with India would give Nigerians the opportunity to take part in dispensing critical skills and knowledge over the next decades and stop depending on offshore expertise to run the economy.

    • Lower cost

    Effective pursuance of local content would ultimately result in reduction in the cost of production because there would be less dependency on international currencies as the majority of services rendered would be in local currency.

    • Grow ICT sector

    The success of Local Content drive in the telecom and ICT in Nigeria would accelerate the progress of the sector.

     

    Way forward

    • Comprehensive plan

    ATCON noted that since the inauguration of the Office of the Nigeria Local Content (ONC), there has been very little or no noticeable activity to drive the guidelines that were published back in 2013. ATCON would like NCC and ONC to come up with concrete short and long-term implementable plans in partnership with India.

    • ICT Parks

    The Federal Government should encourage India to pool managerial and technical resources together for the establishment of an ICT Park in Nigeria. The ICT Park would be given the mandate to encourage the production of some ICT inputs such as switches, router, and mobile phone repairs/assembly with some of ATCON members that are already active in this space

    • Refocus educational policies

    The number of people who want to study science related courses are small (and in most cases reducing) in relation to students who want to study commercial or social science related courses. The trend can never solve the nation’s challenges, therefore, there is need to begin to redirect the focus of students on the need to study science related courses. The Federal Government should make studying of science courses interesting by providing conducive learning environment and state of art laboratory equipment for students with a view to encouraging local content policy.

    • Increase ICT budget

    The Federal Government should begin to focus more on other alternative means of generating income and focus should be on increasing government spending and budget allocation to funding the ICT sector for the purpose of making its products and services exportable, thereby allowing it to contribute to our foreign earnings.

    • Appropriate policies

    In order for the ICT sector to supplement or replace the oil and gas sector, strong policy frameworks which favour the sector must be put in place. It should be emphasised that the petroleum industry which used to be the cash cow for our nation (from a foreign exchange earning perspective) is not doing so well right now and this is a global issue.

    Already several countries in more advanced economies have declared that from 2030, use of hydrocarbons to run their vehicles will be significantly reduced or stopped. The direct implication of this is that the country may not be able to finance the budget without resulting to further borrowing.

    ICT can as a matter of fact serve as the new cash cow for the country provided the right polices are put in place.

  • Operators: Rising cost, forex, others killing us silently

    Tier Two operators have urged the Federal Government to provide them with palliatives to cushion the effects of the increase in network operating cost in the country.

    Specifically they are demanding tax holiday, intervention in sourcing forex and harmonisation of the right of way (RoW) in states and local government councils in the country.

    The government has assured that the problems associated with the Tier Two (Broadband) telecom providers would be addressed in the interest of the industry,.

    The Minister of Communications, Mr Adebayo Shittu, who gave the assurance at a meeting with some operators in Abuja led by the Managing Director of Smile Communcations, Mr Godfrey Efeurhobo, said the government was poised to support and create enabling environment for telecommunications industry to thrive.

    Shittu who identified with the challenges the operators are facing said relevant steps would be taken to look into the problems as enumerated by the operators, stressing that Information and Communications Technology remains critical to the government efforts to diversify the nation’s economy.

    A statement by one of the Minister’s Media aide, Mrs Pauline Sule, quoted Shittu as saying that the present administration has evolved some mechanism to protect the businesses of tier two telecoms operators as data is a way of life to all citizens irrespective of their public or private activities.

    Shittu urged the tier two operators to partner with the Ministry in the establishment of ICT Development Bank, and to adopt a campus of the ICT University as well as ensuring the establishment of ICT Exhibition Park.

    Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Godfrey Efeurhobo, Managing Director, Smile Communications, commended the minister for granting them audience to discuss critical issues affecting the growth and development of the sector with him.

    He said the passion of the minister is well known in the ICT industry, stressing that the roles the minister has so far played to ensure that ICT is leveraged upon to revive the economy of Nigeria would not be forgotten by the people.

    Mr Efeurhobo requested the minister to use his good office to take the lead in solving various challenges that the Telecom Companies face, especially network operating cost which has gone up to eighty percent.

    He urged the Minister to put in place palliatives that would reduce the shock in their businesses as a result of the increase in network operating cost, adding that the operators would appreciate a regime of tax holiday, government intervention in sourcing of forex minister and harmonisation of RoW regarding states and local government councils.