The Nation Newspaper

Category: Infotech

  • Computer training centre coming

    An information Technology (IT) firm, Venema Advies Nigeria Limited, will provide a training school alongside its first carrier-neutral data centre it is building in the country.

    Its Chief Executive Officer, Dick Venema, said the provision of the school is in line with promoting local content in the information communication technology (ICT) industry as it is in oil and gas. Young graduate engineers, he said, would be trained in the specialised area of data centre management.

    According to him, the firm is an IT solutions provider offering mission-critical communications, cloud services, managed application services, enterprise IT and virtualisation solutions to customers.

    He said the firm has started engineering of a state-of-the-art data centre in Agbara, Ogun State, adding that the Lagos Data centre will provide co-location, disaster recovery and dedicated hosting services to clients all over Africa.

    “An important aspect of the Lagos Data Centre project is the training centre located next to it. To help Nigerians get a firm grip of the technology, it is most important that the local workforce get the requisite skills required to manage the new technology. Lagos Data Centre Training Centre will train indigenous employees of the firm, help them set up the state-of-the-art infrastructure that IT demands these days. There will be no need any more to bring in costly expatriate consultants which encourages capitla flight. Then, local content will rise while juvenile deliquency would be banished,” he said.

    The new datacenter, he added, will provide network-based services, applications, equipment and cloud services in a highly safe secure and backed up environment.

    “The data centre is carrier-neutral, the customer can choose his/her own carrier for connectivity. “Power in Nigeria is still unreliable. A lot of the current datacentre infrastructure is hosted outside Nigeria. Lagos Datacenter will run on its own energy supply to ensure 24/7 operations. We have attracted top players in the datacenter industry to engineer this project.

    “Our partners include ICTroom, a Dutch datacenter specialist which has worked with Rabobank, Europol, ING and many others. ICTroom engineers’ datacentres conform to Uptime Institute regulation.

    “Zwart Techniek is the second Dutch firm, which is a top global player in the energy sector,” he said.

    According to him, Zwart Techniek has a long experience in Africa, having worked for the Telecity, Dutch Army, TANESCO, Rabobank and many others.

    “This is why we can deliver Africa’s most modern datacentre known till date. Building a datacenter is not something you just do. Experience is needed. We see too many times that telecoms companies are rushing to build data centers. These telcos do not have the requisite specialisation to run a data centre.”

  • What role for It in security challenge?

    What role for It in security challenge?

    In other parts of the world, information technology is used to tackle insecurity challenges. Isn’t it possible for Nigeria to adopt the strategy? LUCAS AJANAKU reports.

    If there is anything the government wants a quick fix for, it is the security challenge. The nation is under the throes of insecurity. Every day, we hear one story or the other of a security breach. Yet, there seems to be no way out. Some people, however, believe that the solution lies in deployment of information technology (IT) to tackle the problem as it is done abroad. Government, it seems, has not bought the idea.

    According to the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) president, Sir Demola Aladekomo, the government’s response to the deployment of IT to combat terrorism is not encouraging. “We have met quite a lot of them and they sang the same old song. That is why Nigerians are looking forward to the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) International Conference scheduled for July 24 to 26 in Osun State because it has e-Government and National Security as theme.

    “Crime detection and elimination should not always come down to the use of rifles and mortar fire. There should be a more intelligent way of bringing about peace,” he said.

    In foreign countries, crime is prevented and detected through the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) gadgets, such as Closed Circuit Televison (CCTV). The perpetrators of the Boston bombings in the United States (US) last April were caught by a CCTV footage. Also, those behind the Woolwich killing in the United Kingdom (UK) were captured on CCTV which made the identification of the suspects easier. These are simple technological tools.

    Crime Prevention Campaign Organisation Southwest coordinator, Mr Temitope Akindele, said the use of CCTV should not be seen as something difficult. According to him, each local government headquarters and major towns could be covered by CCTV/Internet Protocol (IP) camera-based surveillance.

    Though the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, in February, last year during the budget defence acknowledged that insecurity remained a national concern that needed urgent attention, and that technology surveillance and crime detecting gadgets could address the situation, no steps have been taken by the Federal Government in that direction. While Abuja is being covered by CCTV, the Lagos State Government is not leaving any stone unturned at ensuring the security of lives and properties of people in the state.

    Cyber-crime

    In other climes, a cyber-criminal, or paedophile could be traced and arrested with his computer while on the internet. There are software, which could trace the origin of a mail with precision. The subscriber identification module (SIM) registration could provide security agencies with the identity and address of an internet criminal. The way it works is that everyone who has a modem registers it and his fingerprints and photo with the firm. The best efforts of the police in recent times have been to raid internet cafes. Many cyber-cafes have been closed due to this. People no longer use the cyber-café, but use their personal laptops, i-pad, tablets, or smartphones to access the internet. With internet modems and bundle plans that continue to fall in prices, it is becoming increasingly difficult for security agencies to locate the ‘offices’ of cyber-criminals.

    President, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Bayo Banjo, an engineer, said Nigeria is yet to witness a cybercrime. According to him, what is happening now are ‘cyber-assisted crimes’. He said it would be disastrous if the nation is allowed to witness cyber crime because it is going to affect key institutions.

    Aladekomo said the conference would address critical national and global IT issues and concerns, attracting practitioners, decision makers, policy makers and professionals from Nigeria and all over the world.

    The conference is the largest yeraly assembly of high-level IT stakeholders from business, industry, education, government and social communities in Nigeria. It is the key networking and professional event for advancing Information Technology for development and promoting the interests of IT stakeholders in the country.”

    Other sub-themes of the conference where at least more than 2, 000 delegates are expected include: Transforming the art of governance through e-Government; promoting smart government and social security through Information Technology, promoting economic security through Information Technology; promoting political security through Information Technology; and National Database as Core Field of National Security.

    Managing Director, Commit Technology Consult, Dr Niran Oyekale, said finding solutions to the insecurity in the nation goes beyond buying machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. He said with the appropriate policies, ICT could help the government and its intelligence agencies to build, deploy and manage technologies that will identify use of an illegal aliens. The use of forensic technologies makes it easy such when crimes are committed, it will be easy to detect.

    “Most law enforcement officers lack the relevant skills needed to cope with the 21st century security challenges. The significant economic, social and cultural opportunities that are potentially available to security officers can only be harnessed if government provide both the framework and the inspiration for establishing digitally literate security outfits,” he said, adding that without basic computing skills, officers will lack the skill to tackle emerging security challenges.

    Aladekomo said infrastructure remains a great challenge. He, however, said when the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), which the NCS is partnering the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to develop finally comes on stream, it will assist in fighting crimes, especially cyber crimes and crimes that involve the use of IT infrastructre one of which is the telephone.

    “There is no crime that is committed without telephony, that will not involve possibly, the sue of the mobile phone, possibly sometime, a PC and using PKI, with its implementation, we are going to be able to reduce crimes that involve telephony and other gadgets dramatically,” he said.

  • Budget Office, PenCom accused of delaying NIPOST pensioners’ payment

    The National Pension Commission (PenCom),the Budget Office and the Bureau for Public Service Reform (BPRS), have been accused of delaying the payment of severance benefits of Nigeria Postal Services (NIPOST) workers.

    A source told The Nation in Lagos, that a committee set up to harmonise the pension of the retirees with the leadership of the National Union of Pensioners (NUP) has submitted the report. The source lamented that the Budget Office and PenCom were foot-dragging on the payment of the aged retirees.

    “You are aware that the pension fund is a central fund. It is an issue of the Budget Office. It is an issue of the Federal Government. PenCom is involved, BPRS is also invovled because some people left the service through its reform process. All these agencies have a hand in computing the names of people entitled to pension,” the source said, adding that it was high time the relevant agencies lived up to their responsibilities.

    The Assistant Postmaster General, Territorial Operations, Yacim Bitiyong, confirmed to The Nation that a committee was set up, adding that all the data have been collated from BPRS. “They have been verified territorially,” he said.

    He explained that part of the problem was the delay in collating the data of the retirees. Bitiyong said: “If you remember since 2006-2007, because of the reform, there were changes in schedule. You could not have gone beyond level eight if you don’t have a degree or higher national diploma (HND) or a diploma and (you could not have gone) beyond level 14 if you do not have a degree or higher diploma. So, the post office had a good number of such people and they left the service. You can imagine many of them were strong able bodied men/women.

    “If you watch what is happening, you will discover that the (people protesting) are people who appear physically strong, but because they didn’t meet the qualification required, they have to go. You can imagine that they are aggrieved. We sympatise with them.We are laising with the Budget Office to pay them off.”

    According to him, the union leadership was involved because they know many of the people that were retired. “They are very senior citizens in terms of position. But, particularly, in the last few months, for some reasons, they have become worried about what their entitlement is and they felt they have to change tactics. You know we have faced a lot of problems concerning pension in the country. This has led to the president setting up committee to solve the problem. But the retirees are saying they are not ready to wait for that committee and there is not much we can do other than to continue to appeal to them,” Bitiyong said.

  • Okonjo-Iweala urges patronage of local products

    Okonjo-Iweala urges patronage of local products

    Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has urged Nigerians to patronise the products of indigenous original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). She said it was by doing so that the technology could be transferred, jobs created and good life assured for the citizens.

    Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, who spoke when she toured the factory of Omatek Computers in Lagos, said instead of looking up to the Federal Government for patronage, Nigerians should embrace the patronage of goods made in the country by their fellow country men.

    “We will only succeed in this country if we patronise our own products. Let us look unto ourselves and leave government. If we patronise our own goods, we will grow the economy,” she said, adding that with a population of over 150 million people, the multiplier effect of patronising indigenous OEMs would only be imagined on the economy.

    She also enjoined the Group Managing Director of Omatek Computers, Mrs Florence Seriki, an engineers, to make her products competitive in terms of quality, stressing that it only through that way that her products could defeat the stiff competition posed by imported goods.

    She urged her to look to the private sector for patronage instead of looking up to the government.

  • Nigerians to enjoy safe e-transaction with SafePay

    To support of   the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cashless policy, Kaymu.com.ng, one of Nigeria’s fastest growing online marketplace has introduced an e-transaction payment service, SafePay.

    The Managing Director, Kaymu, Lukas Zels, said SafePay was a necessary step to make online transactions safe and easy and  empower Nigerians through e-Commerce.

    “It is  an escrow service whereby buyers pay directly to Kaymu for items bought plus the cost of delivery and sellers send item purchased to the buyer before receiving the money from Kaymu, ” Zels explained.

    He said the rationale was to make transactions across Nigeria safe for buyers and sellers. “This will create a great environment for trade on our platform. Most especially, small and specialized sellers with great products will benefit from the huge audience that they can securely sell to now,”

    According to the Managing Director , the platform would provide both parties with a secure e-Commerce transaction.

    “If goods bought are not delivered to the buyer or doesn’t meet the expected conditions as displayed online, Kaymu refunds the money paid to the buyer and the seller gets their goods back from the buyer.

    “With this, more buyers will purchase a seller’s items and a seller has the guarantee to receive payment for his goods. However, he will receive the goods back, if a buyer eventually does not buy again. As for the buyers, they have the guarantee to receive items paid for or a refund of their money, in addition with delivery costs”, Zels added

    Some  Kaymu users  in an interview expressed satisfaction for the payment solution, saying it has made online shopping more convenient for them.

     

  • Samsung awaits Ekiti for academy take-off

    Samsung Electronics West Africa, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Company Limited, said it is awaiting the government of Ekiti State for the take-off of another engineerig academy in the country.

    Its Managing Director, Bravo Kim, who spoke on the sideline at an event in Lagos, explained that it is part of the firm’s capacity building programme targeted at developing 10,000 electronics engineers across Africa by 2015.

    According to him, the Samsung Engineering Accademy in Ekiti, is almost completed, adding that what is needed is for the state government to give the green light so that the programme could take off.

    He said the facilities for the academy were already in place.

    Meanwhile, the firm has announced the introduction of the new All-in-One (AiO) PC Series 7 into the market.

    Samaung said the new PC builds on the premium aspects of the Samsung Series 9 Notebook with advanced engineering, craftsmanship and stylish design.

    Beyond high performance, it added that the new PC Series 7 has been crafted to deliver a new AiO PC experience. Driven by a 3rd generation Intel CoreT i5-3470T Processor, 6GB RAM, dedicated AMD Radeon HD graphics and a Full HD display with resolution of 1920 x 1080, the new AiO PC Series 7 embodies innovative sense recognition features such as 10-finger multi-touch screen control and hand gesture commands.

    The Head, IT Solutions, Samsung Electronics West Africa, Folashade Oyelayo, said: “The new AiO PC packages the best of Samsung’s precision engineering and premium design with top class performance and functionality.

    “With its unique craftsmanship and boasting of the latest hardware and software, we predict that this new product will be accepted by discerning consumers. It offers a maximised home entertainment experience and is a perfect device for a family PC or desktop replacement. We feel that the AiO PC market carries enormous growth potential by taking convergence technologies to the next level.”

  • Galaxy Backbone dedicates award to subscribers

    Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Mr Gerald Ilukwe, has said the award it won from the United Nations Organisation (UNO) is a validation of efforts of the company and the country at the efficient deployment of Information Technology (IT) in delivering services to the citizens using its homegrown 1-GOV. net initiative.

    According to a statement, Ilukwe spoke on the sideline at the annual UN Public Service Forum and Awards in Manama, Bahrain, adding that though the company faced some challenges at inception, such as opposition from civil servants, the firm has transformed governance with its IT platform.

    “What this award means is that this is the way to go, the UN is setting the standards and other countries are also following and it shows that we are on the right path. We have to get the people opposed to IT in government service to come on board so that we can deliver quality services to Nigerians,” he said, adding that it will spur him to do more.

    He maintained that IT was one leg of the efforts as the ultimate aim is “transformational government”, urging civil servants to support Galaxy Backbone in building on the gains it has achieved in its few years in existence.

    Ilukwe explained that information and communications technology has become a yardstick for measuring human development and assured that the nation would witness unprecedented development if IT is deployed in state and local governments with their support.

  • Moving slowly, steadily

    Moving slowly, steadily

    The Information Communications Technology (ICT) sector started a little late in  the year, but it seems to be picking  up now, reports LUCAS AJANAKU.

    Towards the end of last year, the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson; Project Manager, Information Technology Developers Entrepreneurship Accelerator (iDEA), Helen Anatogu and others addressed stakeholders on the ministry’s pet project: software incubation centres. Going by Anatogu’s explanation, two centres were to come into being before the end of the year or at worst, first quarter of this year. But that did not happen. The Lagos pilot scheme was inaugurated less than three months ago in Yaba. The other, scheduled for Tinapa Knowledge City in Calabar, the Cross River State capital is yet to fly.

    Anatogu blamed bureaucracy for the delays. She said the “delay is not denial” as the centre in Yaba was like a blessing in disguise. Mrs Omobola said by 2015, six software incubation centres would have been set up while about 25 new businesses would have been established through the initiative.

    Software venture capital fund manager

    A Venture Capital fund manager was selected to manage the N500 million seed fund made available by the Federal Government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

    Details of the manager were not made public but it is said to be an internationally recognised venture capital fund manager. “A venture fund capital manager has been selected; unfortunately, we cannot let you know the identity of the manager now,” Helen said.

    The venture capital fund manager is expectected to raise about $75 million to the pool. The fund is expected to be pulled back in 10 years time.

    Dominant operators

    MTN and Globacom emerged “dominant operators” in the telecoms industry, the report of consultants commissioned by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed.

    In its recent industry review, the regulator noted that phone calls between MTN customers cost three times lower than calls to other networks. “This is indicative of the likely establishment of a calling club for MTN subscribers,” NCC said.

    Nigeria, Africa’s fastest growing telecoms market with a population of 167 million people has a subscriber base that is slightly above 119.3 million by the first quarter of this year, NCC data showed. MTN Nigeria was the market leader with about 50 million lines. Globacom has about 24 million subscribers while Airtel had 23 million customers. Etisalat had 15 million.

    MTN and Globacom were found to “jointly control about 62 per cent of the public terrestrial transmission infrastructure,” raising concerns that they may “squeeze the margins of their competitors who are also their customers.”

    NCC directed MTN to adhere to ‘accounting separation; collapse of on-net and off-net retail tariffs; and submit required details on specific aspects of its operations from time to time as the need arises. NCC promised to make a determination of pricing principle to address the rate charges for on-net and off-net calls for all other operators

    On the dominant operators in the wholesale leased lines and transmission jointly dominated by MTN and Globacom, NCC said it will impose price cap/price floor for wholesale services and price floor for retail services, which shall be subject to periodic review. It will also “immediately enforce and implement accounting separation on the joint dominant operator.”

    “The determination shall take effect from May 1, 2013 and remain valid and binding on licensees for the services specified in relevant market segment of this sector until further reviewed by the commission,” NCC insisted.

    It is not clear if any of the directives of the regualtor has been implemented, about two months after.

    National Broadband Plan

    Perhaps, the greatest milestone of the period under review was the public presentation of the National Broadband Plan 2013-2018. The presentation was made by former Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of NCC and co-chairman of the Presidential Committee on Broadband, Ernest Ndukwe,. He explained that the vision was to have “a society of connected communities with high speed Internet and broadband access that facilitates faster socio-economic advancement of the nation and its people.” The public presentation of the roadmap has received public commendation from stakeholders.

    Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) Secretary-General, Prof Tim Unwin, said he was delighted that the country had taken the brave initiative of launching a national broadband policy. He stressed that it was a great step in the right direction. “I see the broadband policy here as a massive commitment to raise broadband connection to the entire country. That is an ambitious programme. We will continue to support the NCC and the government of Nigeria,” he said in Lagos.

    MNPlaunch

    The NCC kicked off the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) scheme in Lagos, saying the development will give subscribers complete freedom to choose which service provider to use. EVC of NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah, said it was in furtherance of the commission’s vision of providing not only access to telecoms services to Nigerians at affordable cost but also to continue to provide the required stimulus and appropriate environment for the introduction of innovative services that will impact on quality of service delivery.

    According to Juwah, MNP has been identified as one service that could further deepen the competition in the telecoms market, adding that with the growing reliance and dependence on mobile communications for everyday socio-economic interactions, it was appropriate to destroy all fetters to choice.

    “The vision of the commission is not only to provide access to telecommunication services to Nigerians at affordable cost but to also continue to provide the required stimulus and appropriate environment for the introduction of innovative services that will impact on quality telecoms service delivery,” he said.

    End to SIM card registration

    The nationwide subscriber identifcation module (SIM) card registration officially ended on June 30 after running for about 27 months.

    The exercise began on March 28, 2011 and had been enmeshed in one problem or the other.

    While the operators and subscribers have asked for a three-month extension, the regulator insisted that it has ended the exercise. Director, Public Affairs, NCC, Tony Ojobo, told The Nation that there would be no extension, in spite of the appeals by Association of Licensed Telecoms Opaerators of Nigeria (ALTON) and the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS).

    One sore point about SIM registration is that a lot of subscribers will be affected by NCC’s mass disconnection order of unregistered SIM because so many subscribers registered their SIM cards long time ago only to receive text messages that their SIMs were yet to be registered.

    Pegging of off-net SMS rate at N4

    In a move commended by stakeholders, except operators, the regulator pegged all domestic off-net short message services (SMS) at N4. While the operators lamented that it was an overkill because traffic and revenue originating from SMS had shrunk tremendously due to the emergence of instant messaging platforms, such as Blackberry and WhatsApp, Skype, Facebook chat, Yahoo messenger, 2go, meebo, ebuddy, Nimbuzz and CoollM, subscribers say it has brought an end to the era of fleecing them, arguing that in some countries, SMS are offered to subscribers free.

    Crash of voice calls

    The NCC also announced a reduction in interconnection rates for voice calls in the country. Under the new dispensation, the rate was reduced from N8.20 to N6.40, N5.20 and N3.90.

    The regulator explained that the decision to reduce the interconnection rate was taken after wide consultations with the all the stakeholders in the telecoms sector.

    “After comprehensive consultations with various stakeholders, the NCC released a new set of interconnection rates determination for voice services for the country’s telecommunications industry, commencing April 1, 2013. The new determination rate, which significantly reviewed prices downwards are informed by the depth of competition in the industry while taking into consideration the position of new entrants and small operators,” Ojobo explained.

    He said the termination rates for voice services provided by new entrants (defined as newly licensed operator entering an existing or new market within zero to three years) and small operators (defined as an existing operator with a market share of 0 – 7.5 per cent in terms of subscriber base in Nigeria irrespective of the originating network shall be: N6.40 from April 1, this year; N5.20 from April 1, 2014; and N3. 90 from April 1, 2015.

    According to the NCC, the termination rates for voice services provided by other operators in Nigeria irrespective of the originating network shall be: N4.90 from April 1, this year; N4.40 from April 1, 2014; and N3.90 from April 1, 2015.

    Unbanning of promos, lotteries

    In a rather bizarre move, the NCC unbanned promos and lotteries on the network. Sector analysts said the regulator capitulated to the maneuvering of the operators. They argued that the reasons for prohibiting lotteries and promos had to do with service quality and still had not been addressed.

    Quality of telecoms services

    During the period under review, like the proverbial leopard that never changes its spot, the quality of telecoms services continued to drop. Call drops, unsuccssful call rates, cross-talking, unauthorised call diversion and other problems continued to be the daily experience of subscribers across all the networks in the country. In a strange coincidence, service quality dipped to its lowest shortly after the launch of the MNP.

    In the area of data services, the subscribers undergo untold hardship trying to use their dongles. If the problem is not downtime from the service providers, it is the speed and bandwidth promised that are not being made available to them. Some internet service providers (ISPs) too continue to have a field day as they unleash less than dignifying

    National Single Window Portal

    The Ministry of Communications Technology in collaboration with the Ministry of Information launched the National Single Window Portal to create one point of entry for Nigerians to access government information and services online.

    A government Call Center with vanity number ‘’0700 CALL GOV’’ has since been launched. The Call centre will facilitate enquiries, complaints/problem resolution where possible. It will help build a knowledge management database and help support servicom desks.

    NCS dreams IT Park

    The Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) unfolded plans to build an IT Park in Lagos. Its President, Sir Demola Aladekomo, said the body intends to replicate what happened in Balgore, India and Sillicon Valley in the US. “What it does is that it allows us to pull resources together to manage all the tings that we need centrally. Just like the Sillicon Valley that we were discussing, once you know that there is a place you can go to get all these service, the whole world will just go there. So, there is synergy it is going to create, not just within the industry but also within the society because they know that they can get service, they will go there. Even the infrastucture providers can then concentrate on us,” he said.

  • ‘Nigeria can generate $3b revenue from digital media’

    Nigeria is yet to tap into the enormous potential of $3 billion yearly revenue accruable from the digital media industry, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Access Foundation for Technology Development (DAFTECH), Oseji Michael, said in Lagos.

    He said if the industry is properly harnessed, it will contribute significantly to the nations’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP), lamenting, however, that the nation lacks the technology to tap into this dormant goldmine.

    According to him, a digital media industry like the movie industry (Nollywood) is bereft of funding in technology and skilled manpower, arguing that this explains why a cartoon movie has not been produced in the country.

    He said to fill the gap, DAFTECH will, through its skills4Life programme, embark on free training for the youth to turn out about 5000 technology entrepreneurs through offering advanced courses in iOS, Android and Windows application development, digital effects, classical character animation, film and video editing, graphic designs, Web and mobile publishing.

    “Our aim is to simplify technology, empower educators and inspire students to enhance their technology potential. Through transparency and high integrity, our objective is to provide a technology hub where learning and skills’ development thrives with the overall goal of reducing unemployment and creating technology entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Africa,” he said.

    He also said DAFTECH would commence the training soon by selecting 90 participants quarterly to undergo an intensive six weeks of free training in its fully equipped classroom and digital studio.

    “At the end of each session, certificates will be awarded to participants and the best overall student gets rewarded with a MAC BOOK PRO. The first of such centres is now operational in Lagos and open to participants for registration. With the support of our friends, partners and supporters, we are building more centres in other states of the federation to cater for those outside of Lagos.

    “In addition, plans are underway to build Nigeria’s first Digital Media University,” he said, adding that by next year, full diploma, first degree and masters level scholarship will be awarded to three students to study Digital Media in the United States.

  • Nigeria hosts Commonwealth forum

    Nigeria Communications Commissson (NCC) will, between October 7 and 11, host the 53th Council Meeting and 11th Annual Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) Forum at the HiltonHotel, Abuja.

    With Innovation through Broadband as its theme, other discussions will be focused on: Future Networks-Infrastructure Development and Enabling Business; Beyond Social Media-from Likes to Learning; Broadband Innovation and Young People; Securing ICT Development and Success in the Commonwealth and; Broadband Development: e-Government, e-Accessibility and e-Health.

    Speaking in Lagos ahead of the forum, CTO Secretary-General, Prof Tim Unwin, said he was delighted that the country had taken the brave initiative of launching a national broadband policy, stressing that it was a great step in the right direction.