The Nation Newspaper

Category: Infotech

  • NCC: Technical skills needed to sustain growth

    NCC: Technical skills needed to sustain growth

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said there is need to intensify efforts at building the specialised skills set needed in the telecoms sector if the gains of the telecoms revolution are to be sustained.

    Its Head Policy and Research, Dr. Henry Nkemadu, said the telecom revolution in the country which has resulted in the unparalleled growth from 400,000   lines to 139 million connected lines needed to continue to grow.

    He said for this to happen, there was need to grow the specialised skill sets to sustain and drive more growth and development in the sector.

    He spoke during the donation of 87 information communication technology (ICT) books to Bayero University, Kano (BUK).

    He explained that the aim of the project, which is part of NCC’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) to spread digital dividends to tertiary institutions across the country, is to develop local capacity that will contribute to the ICT sector and boost the national economy.

    NCC Board Commissioner, Alhaji Mohammed Bintube, who led the Commission’s delegation to BUK to donate the books, said the ICT book donation is part of the project of the Commission to fill the dearth of educational materials within the ICT sector in the country.

    BUK Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abubakar Adamu Rasheed expressed gratitude to the NCC for the donation and encouraged it to further partner with the university in its efforts to expand ICT training programmes within the institution.

    He said the NCC is one of the institutions that show legitimacy and honor in the ICT sector, adding that the book donation by the Commission to the school is worth millions of naira and is one of the best the university has received so far.

    The books will adorn the university’s ICT Centre named T.Y Danjuma ICT Centre which consists of a post-graduate school, Departments of Information Technology (IT), Software Engineering and Computer Science. The gesture from the NCC is spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country.

    In a statement, NCC Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo quoted Bintube as saying:   “Commission is honored and privileged to be present at one of the citadels of learning in Nigeria. We appreciate the efforts made in ICT within the university.”

  • MainOne urges outsourcing of data management

    MainOne urges outsourcing of data management

    MainOne’s new subsidiary, MDX-I, has urged major firms in the country to leverage on outsourced Data Centre services to drive down costs and optimise operational efficiency.

    Convinced about the cost-efficiency of outsourced data, MDX-I and its parent company, MainOne a breakfast seminar in Lagos targeted at senior level IT managers to discuss strategies for companies that require improved data centre capacity. This session revealed valuable global insights from leading IT research company, the International Data Corporation (IDC), and global Cloud specialist, EMC2 Corporation, in addition to specialists from MainOne.

    MainOne’s Head of Marketing, Jumoke Akande, said the recent macro-economic issues in the country and fluctuating global oil prices necessitated the need for companies to use the session to explore how they can utilise Cloud and other Data Centre hosted-business applications to enhanced productivity at reasonable costs.

    With leading data experts from IDC and EMC2 Corporation as speakers, the session shed light on global trends in Data Centers, planning issues to consider, and the case for businesses to co-locate in commercial data centers which offer extraordinary levels of performance, as against building in-house data center facilities from ground up.

    Ms. Akande stressed that high level of attendance at the seminar with “Making the business case for data centre Migration” as its theme revealed the enlightened perspectives that IT managers in Nigeria are adopting to withstand economic pressures and reduce costs.

  • Ericsson, Tigo, others partner on community empowerment

    Ericsson, Tigo, others partner on community empowerment

    Ericsson, Tigo and Coca-Cola have partnered to float a programme they said would empower rural communities.

    The pilot project will bring mobile connectivity to EKOCENTER, a social enterprise initiative designed to empower community well-being by bringing safe water, solar power and mobile communications, as well as basic goods and services to underserved communities.  The pilot project will be conducted in collaboration with Tigo Rwanda and German start-up company, Solarkiosk.

    Chief Sustainability Officer, Coca-Cola Company, Beatriz Perez, said: “EKOCENTER is an innovative social enterprise that endeavors to help communities thrive by providing further access to resources.  Engaging new partners to join this journey adds skills and expertise beyond our core enhancing the value for the people in these communities. Connectivity has become a fundamental part of thriving communities and economies. We’re excited about the solutions Ericsson can deliver to EKOCENTER, solutions we believe will foster positive change.”

    Vice President Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson, Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, also said about the initiative:  “Mobile broadband can address a wide range of issues that hinder development – from poverty to lack of electricity and safe water, to financial exclusion and gender inequality”.

  • Glo gives N28b free airtime in overload promo

    Glo gives N28b free airtime in overload promo

    Second national carrier, Globacom, has said subscribers to its network have within the last two months received about N28billion worth of airtime from the Glo Overload Reloaded promo which is running.

    A re-launch of the promo earlier this year provided expansion to 400 per cent bonus airtime for a recharge of N200 and above, that is twice the initial 200 per cent bonus. The promo was one of those launched in the last quarter of 2014 which was designed to reward loyal and faithful subscribers.

    With more than 7,000 subscribers joining the promo and enjoying the benefits accruable since the re-launch, the company has given out  N27,523,577,800 bonus airtime to its subscribers.

    In the promo, a recharge of N200 gives a value of N1000 instantly, which is five times the value of recharge. N500 recharge gives the subscriber N2, 500 airtime value; N1000 gives N5000; N2000 gives N10,000; while N5000 gives N25,000 value.

    The bonus airtime can be used by subscribers to make calls to Glo lines and send SMS between 10pm and 8am. The validity period ranges from two to 15 days.

    Data subscribers on the network have also been enjoying the bonus. For example, a N2,500 data plan instantly gets 4.5GB worth of data, N5,000 gives 12GB, and N8000 gives 24GB of data.

    Also, customers who subscribe to the promo have the opportunity to be among the 120 millionaires that the promo will produce. Having produced 40 millionaires so far, 80 more will be announced in the next few weeks.

    Francis Oshin, a Glo subscriber, said the promo was a blessing to the industry.

  • ComTech minister sees local content driving internet

    ComTech minister sees local content driving internet

    Communication Technology Minister, Dr Omobola Johnson, has identified local content as the future driver of internet penetration in the country, adding that over-reliance on YouTube and other such channels will not do the magic.

    Speaking as a panelist at the Ericson and Alliance for Affordable Internet (a4ai), programme at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, she said: “What will drive the internet is relevant, local content. The most visited sites in Nigeria are the job and the news sites, not social media.”

    The minister’s position  contrasted with that of other panel members gathered from across the world that saw the social network channels as doing magic.

    Executive Director, a4ai, Sonia Jorge, in her presentation said Nigeria’s improved performance was buoyed by a strong leadership and regulation of the industry, robust broadband strategy, effective competition in the telecoms sector, efficient spectrum allocation, universal access to rural and underserved population, and infrastructure sharing, among others.

    Dr Johnson said the decision of the Nigerian government to create the Communication Technology Ministry underscored the importance attached to ICT as critical to economic growth and job creation.

    In the report of the research, Jorge explained: “Nigeria comes second in the Affordability Index’s ranking of developing economies – scoring higher than other African developing economies such as Kenya, Morocco and Uganda, and higher even than some emerging economies, including Mexico, South Africa, Thailand and Tunisia. The backbone infrastructure in Nigeria has improved significantly over the last decade, with multiple players, including Phase 3, Glo 1, Suburban Telecom, Multilink and MTN, building fibre networks that crisscross the country. Nigeria’s regulator, the Nigerian Communication Commission, plans to award seven licenses to regional infrastructure companies to extend broadband infrastructure nationally. The first two of these were awarded early in the year to MainOne and HIS Communications to provide services in Lagos and Northcentral states.

  • ‘Nigeria cornerstone of Archos’ operations’

    ‘Nigeria cornerstone of Archos’ operations’

    The Country Manager (Nigeria),  French mobile devices major, Archos Soicete Anonymes,, Ademola Olukotun has said Nigeria will be the cornerstone of the firm’s operations in Africa, adding that a mix of qualitative and expanding infrastructure as well as tremendous growth opportunities makes the country to stand out as preferred investment destination.

    Speaking during the launch of the products of the firm in Lagos at the weekend, he said the firm has operated in other parts of the world, promising to replicate its success story in the country.

    He said: “Archos is the pioneer in the Android Operating System (OS) space with the first ever Android tablets. It has now combined its technical know-how with its creativity to provide a complete range of innovative smartphones and tablets. Archos has a strategic technical close relationship with operating system partner (Google certified). All our Android smartphones have complete access to Google play store and Windows Storetn. Today, we offer our own line of Android tablets and smatrphones as well as a full line of OEM devices.

    “After years of successful consolidation of our presence in Europe, Archos is now in launching its brand in several countries in Africa and the Middle East and Africa. About six months ago, we launched in Egypt and last month, in Senegal. So, Nigeria is a continuation of our African expansion project and coming to to Nigeria has given us an exciting challenge and we are poised and determined to to present Achos tablets phones and connected objects at affordable prices yet with world class quality and aesthetics.

    “A mix of qualitative and expanding infrastructure as well as tremendous growth makes Nigeria very appealing and cornerstone of our strategy.”

  • Partnership with UNAIDS touching lives, says Airtel’s CEO

    Partnership with UNAIDS touching lives, says Airtel’s CEO

    The  partnership betwwen the telco and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) will further open new vista of opportunities to deepen its commitment to touching the lives of Nigerians positively, especially in the area of quality healthcare services delivery, the Chief Executive Officer,  Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, has said.

    He spoke in Lagos during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between UNAIDS and Airtel to eliminate Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV in Nigeria.

    He said Airtel has a track record of supporting and empowering young people, who are the future leaders of our country.

    He said Airtel has adopted and built schools for children; provided several interventions in the area of healthcare for hundreds of kids, adding that the  Touching Lives programme has even offered the company a more elaborate platform to reach and connect with underprivileged children.

    “Indeed, Airtel is intensely interested in impacting society positively as this underscores our corporate philosophy of becoming the most loved brand in the daily lives of Nigerians.”

    UNAIDS Country Director for Nigeria and the UNAIDS Focal Point for the Economic Community for West Africa (ECOWAS), Dr. Bilali Camara, said: “Eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV and keeping their mother alive do not only improve the wellbeing of children and their mothers. They impact positively on the general maternal and child survival.”

    Director-General, National Agency for Control of Aids (NACA), Prof John Idoko, praised telco for its leading role in providing practical, relevant and continuous assistance in the fight against the dreaded HIV/AIDS.

    Idoko described Airtel as a trusted, reliable and committed partner that has stood behind NACA since 2005 when the agency first launched a call centre to assist people living with HIV/AIDS.

    Explaining why Airtel was supporting NACA, Idoko who was represented by the Director, Resource Mobilisation, NACA, Dr. Emmanuel Alhassan, said: “It was in 2005 when we first partnered with Airtel to activate hotlines (interactive telecommunications platform) with the sole intention of providing both guidance and counseling to Nigerians vis-à-vis HIV/AIDS and other related health issues.

    “Back then, we rolled out what could be termed a pilot National Call Contact Centre. And the experiment was extremely successful: the public literally went agog as feedback/responses poured in on the pilot project.

    “In 2012, Airtel also provided the network backbone for our ultra-modern call centre, which was inaugurated by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. The facility, which is fitted with toll free lines and has capacity, to process calls from about 30 callers simultaneously is offering Nigerians irrespective of their location access to accurate information and benefit from public enlightenment on HIV&AIDS and other diseases such as Tuberculosis and Malaria.”

    Idoko recalled how Airtel ‘painted the town red’ during the 2005 edition of the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), saying that the telco did not just add immense value to the international conference but made it colourful and classy.

    The NACA boss noted that it wasn’t a surprise when Airtel indicated its interest to partner with UNAIDS to eliminate Mother-to-Child transmission of HIV.

    The deal will allow the telco’s subscribers to benefit from information on prevention of HIV services. This shall be disseminated through text messages

  • Firm wins award

    Firm wins award

    Computer Warehouse Group Plc (CWG) has been recognised as the Solution Provider of the Year and Renewals Partner for the Year in the West East and Central Africa (WECA) at the yearly VMware Channels awards held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

    Organised by VMware, CWG’s Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partner, it is meant to recognise the dedication of her partners, acknowledged for outstanding achievements in sales, performance and customer satisfaction every year.

    In a statement, the company said: “The VMware Channels Award is to celebrate outstanding partners and the continual investment they make in developing their skills and capacity in order to better support VMware customers.”

    Head, Partner and General Business Lead, VMware, Mark Reynolds, said  the awards portrays that “VMware appreciates the critical role  partners play in helping its customers move to the cloud, embrace the software-defined Data centre and plot their path to the hybrid cloud”.

    CWG received the recognition alongside 16 other prominent firms across Africa. They include foremost global technology outfits IBM, Royalty OEM Partner of the Year (WECA);  HP, as Royalty OEM Partner of the Year (South Africa), Dell as the highest Revenue contributor of the year (South Africa), Ubuntu as the outstanding OEM reseller (South Africa) amongst others.

    CWG, however, is the only IT firm from Nigeria that was recognised.

  • 2.3GHz spectrum: Bitflux blames delayed roll-out on insecurity, policies

    2.3GHz spectrum: Bitflux blames delayed roll-out on insecurity, policies

    The Chief Executive Officer of VDT Communications, Mr Biodun Omoniyi, has blamed investment challenge occasioned by insecurity and government policies for the delays in rolling out service through the 2.3gigghertz (GHz) spectrum licence it won from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) last year.

    VDT is the driver of Bitflux, a consortium of VDT Communications, Bitcom Systems Limited and Superflux. The firm had defeated second national carrier, Globacom, to clinch the wholesale licence during an international auction in Abuja.

    Omoniyi, who spoke in Lagos on the sideline during the unveiling of the International Standards Organisation Certification, (ISO) 20000-1:2011 the firm got from the British Standards Institute (BSI), said the business operating environment has no incentives  for foreign direct investments, lamenting that the firm had to postpone its initial plan to roll out in the first quarter of this year.

    He said: “Bitflux won the 2.3GHz spectrum licence that was auctioned by the NCC last year, and VDT Communications is the major driver of Bitflux, which is a consortium of VDT Communications, Bitcom Systems Limited and Superflux.

    “The truth of the matter is that we are eager and ready to roll-out the service across Nigeria, and we would have done that earlier, but for the investment challenges in the country. We are, however, ready to roll-out, having signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an international vendor to supply equipment that will facilitate service rollout.

    “Initially, we wanted to rollout in the first quarter of the year, but that plan has been shifted by two weeks, which means we have a new date to commence service by April, this year.”

    He said in the past one decade when the firm began operation in the country, it has invested a lot of money in building a world-class technology firm that has become a pride, not only to the country but the international community.

    According to him, the continuous growth in technology solution has kept the firm at par with foreign service providers, adding that because the firm competes favourably with foreign firms, its customers are proud to do business with it. “We are not losing customers in anyway; instead, our customer base is increasing by the year,” Omoniyi said.

    “We have invested so much in this business to grow it to the level in which it is today. In 2001, when we started, we had only three branches, but today we have 46 operating branches in all the 36 states of the federation, including Abuja.

    “A company we promoted paid $25 million, which is more than N5 billion in the dispensation of our naira value just to acquire operating licence. The company needs at least, four times of that amount, which is about N20 billion to roll out services and that is a lot of money, and that is the kind of industry we are into. It is quite capital intensive,” he added.

    On the certification, he said: “The struggle to earn international certification is an unending one. About three years ago, we earned the certification for ISO 9001, which is a certification for quality management service. But today we are celebrating our ISO 20000 certification, which we recently earned, and which is an advanced certification to ISO 9001.

    “What this means is that as the business grows and expands, we will be getting more certifications and also consolidating on the ones we already have. The ISO 20000 is not a destination, but a journey because we are still eyeing more certifications like ISO 27000, ISO 28300 and many more that will still come up.

    “The truth is that we must continually improve on previous certifications because the British Standard Institute, which offers the certifications, will continually carry out audit surveillance on previous certifications to find out if the holders of such certifications are operating in conformity with the standards of the certifications.”

  • ICT skills vital for better opportunities, says New Horizons CEO

    ICT skills vital for better opportunities, says New Horizons CEO

    Managing Director New Horizons Nigeria Mr. Tim Akano has stressed the need for the acquisition of information communication technology (ICT) skills, arguing that such skills brightens the chances of a better future for the youths in the country.

    Akano, who spoke during the inauguration of a N50 million ICT Centre for the students of Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State, said the world started with agricultural revolution, then followed by industrial revolution, adding that in the 21st century, it is ICT that is ruling the world.

    He said: “For any person to make great impact, he/she must have ICT skills. Whether you are studying nursing, business administration, accounting, medicine, biology, law and others, you need ICT skills.”

    He said the company has extended globally recognised IT certifications which are sought after by employers across all sectors to almost all the private universities in the last 10 years training over 50,000 students nationwide.  He urged the students to avail themselves of the opportunity presented by the resource centre by taking serious their coursework and strive to get the certification.

    “We felt that Adeleke University should not be left behind because the internet has turned the world to a global village. You will compete for employment with people from China, India, USA, etc even as the job market is looking for people with the requisite skills irrespective of where they come from. You owe it a duty to put Nigeria on the global stage. With your IT and e-business certification you can be a millionaire as well as an employer,” he said.

    Akano informed the students that  world economy is being ruled by the IT industry. He said: “60 per cent of the richest people in the world and USA in particular are in the ICT industry such as the founder of Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Twitter, and others who are billionaires. In the next 20 years, Nigeria’s crude oil will no longer become the major revenue earner. The services industry will depend on ICT for revenue and it is here you come in.”

    Its Vice Chancellor, Prof Oluwole Gideon Amusan, said it would enable every student irrespective of his or her discipline have minimum of four international skills certifications at 90 per cent subsidised rate, before graduation from the university. It will position them in global software development industry, e-banking, e-medical/telemedicine, e- government, e-legal administration, oil and gas as well as telecoms sector with attendant employment and self employment opportunities.

    He said:“It will provide skills that make our students more marketable and relevant to the demands of the job market. Today, ICT has made scholars to redefine literacy. Man will return to the Stone Age if ICT is removed from learning. Adeleke University deems it fit that all our students should have certifications in CCNA, Oracle, Java, Microsoft and other globally acclaimed IT and e-business professionals courses.”

    The school’s ICT Director/Head, Department of Computer Science Dr. Longe Olumide, thanked the governing council and management of the university as well as New Horizons, for the gesture. He said the ICT certifications will make the students digital natives, place the school at the top among the likes of Harvard University.  He urged the students to make use of the opportunity and entrench the young university among Nigeria’s leading institutions.