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Tag: Digital technology

  • Nigeria, Nordic partners pledge to deepen ties in green energy, digital technology, others

    Nigeria, Nordic partners pledge to deepen ties in green energy, digital technology, others

    Nigeria and its Nordic partners have pledged to deepen their collaboration across green energy, digital technology, health, and agriculture.

    They also agreed to forge partnerships that promise sustainable impact for years to come.

    They made this known at the conclusion of Nordic Nigeria Connect 2025 Business Forum held last week in Lagos under the thematic: “Forging Partnerships for Sustainable Impact”.

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    Organised by the Nordic Embassies in Nigeria and their Trade Offices, the forum, which was the fourth edition, provided a platform for government leaders, innovators, and private sector executives to explore collaboration across four critical sectors: green energy, digital technology, health innovation, and sustainable agriculture.

    Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Dr. Bosun Tijani, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Samuel Egube, Enugu State Deputy Governor Ifeanyi Ossai, State Secretary for Trade and Investment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Denmark H.E. Lina Gandløse Hansen and Deputy Minister for International Trade in Finland H.E. Jarno Syrjälä were part of dignitaries who attended the event.

    Other significant Nordic dignitaries present included H.E. Johan Frisell, Deputy Director-General and Director for Africa at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, H.E. Sanna Selin; Ambassador-Designate of Sweden to Nigeria, H.E. Anna Westerholm; Ambassador of Denmark to Nigeria, H.E. Jens Ole Bach Hansen; and the Ambassador of Norway to Nigeria, H.E. Svein Baera.

  • Experts decry abusive use of digital technology

    Experts decry abusive use of digital technology

    Experts in the academic and health sectors have decried the abusive use of digital technology by youths and adolescents in Nigeria, warning that compulsive engagement in the digital space poses serious threats to both physical and mental wellbeing.

    They urged young people to maximise the opportunities digital technology provides to foster innovation, strengthen social connectivity and contribute to national development.

    The three-day event, the fourth Nigeria Conference on Adolescents and Youths Health Development held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was organised by the Society for Adolescent and Young People’s Health in Nigeria (SAYPHIN) and supported by development partners, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Girl Effect.

    In her keynote address, Kwara State Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina Ahmed El-Imam, charged Nigerian youths to use the digital space responsibly. 

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    She observed that while digital technology enhances communication and opens doors to innovation, its misuse contributes to cyberbullying, fraud, misinformation, stress and anxiety.

    The Commissioner cautioned that digital addiction may result in reduced physical activity and deteriorating mental health. 

    She emphasised that resilience could be built through digital literacy, responsible use of technology, mental strength and emotional intelligence.

    President of SAYPHIN and Professor of Community Medicine, Prof Adesegun Fatusi, described the conference as the largest gathering of stakeholders in adolescent and young people’s health and development in Nigeria. 

    He explained that this year’s edition was deliberately focused on digital technology as one of the greatest dynamics shaping the development of young people globally.

    Prof Fatusi stressed that the objective was to better position participants to harness the immense opportunities digital technology offers, while equipping them with the knowledge, skills and partnerships needed to tackle the dangers of compulsive and abusive use among young people.

    Chairperson of the Local Organising Committee, Prof Omosivie Maduka, noted that the conference was planned with the active involvement of adolescents and youths across the country to ensure that its outcomes reflect their realities. 

    She added that this participatory approach would enable the development of pragmatic and implementable interventions.

  • Digital technology in real estate space

    Digital technology in real estate space

    By Abidemi Ojo

    We live today in a time of great changes in an ever-evolving world, a world that is changing rapidly and quickly. Technological advances are changing the world faster, and transforming the way we live and work in ways that are unimaginable. Switching on an electric light for instance would have been unimaginable for our medieval ancestors, not to talk of internet or smart phones. What an unusual time we live! Time of extraordinarily fast technological change. Interconnectivity of people, businesses and markets has never been as strong and pervasive. We are living in a time of unprecedented and deep transformational change really.

    Technology has revolutionized our work environment.  Digital technologies promise to bring new levels of productivity and efficiency via a wide variety of applications in organizations, through the employees who actually interact with them every day. The tools and devices we use today have significantly changed how we perform tasks, collaborate, and balance work and life, with many of these systems enabling and enhancing efficiency, productivity, and well-being

    One technology that would change the world more profoundly and speed the fast-paced technological change itself is Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI is changing the narratives in many ways, and it would have a fundamentally transformative impact on our world, and would become more capable in years to come. This is because intelligence is the main driver of the innovation.

    In recent decades, globalization has placed increasing demand and pressure on business to change. Globalization require from businesses which must stay alive, and keep thriving in competitive environments to efficiently integrate, through digital processes and collaborative tools. With this being the case, the importance of digital transformation has increased.

    Real estate is one of the world’s oldest and most traditional industries. Its origin could even be traced to the beginning of human history, at creation, in the Garden of Eden which God established and put Adam and Eve in charge with an instruction to dress and to manage (a vital aspect of real estate practice), meaning that Eden was the first estate known to man, and managed by man.

    However, the evolution of real estate as a distinct and recognized profession is one of the developments which took place during the middle age, rooted in the feudal societies of Europe. The Lords of the Manor of medieval Europe owned extensive and sometimes far-flung land holdings. Usually, only a small portion of each of these estates was held and exploited directly by the land owners, the rest, which constituted the bulk of the holdings, was given out to tenants and serfs to use, either for a fee or under some feudal arrangements. On account of the size and disparate locations of these holdings, each land owner appointed stewards or agents to oversee these estates for them.

     As time went on and, real estate business rose in sophistication, the requirements for the job increased.

    First, it became necessary that the practitioners were also lettered in order to keep pace with the demands of ever-increasing record keeping. Next, knowledge of book keeping was required to accommodate the accounting requirements involved. Later on, the need to tackle various proprietary and commercial relationships involved in managing these estates brought surveying, law, commerce, economics and statistics into the profession.

    In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, a major re-organization took place in Europe. In the United Kingdom especially, this resulted in a massive population shift from rural to urban areas and a subsequent redistribution of land rights and property interests.

     At the dawn of the 19th century, the practitioners of the various skills comprising estate management branded themselves into trade groups or guilds. Later on, there were definite moves to form a distinct professional group to embrace the various classifications. From then on, the need to have professionals to manage, improve and sustain real estate investment and development became more demanding.

     Increasing digitalization of economies has highlighted the importance of digital transformation and how it can help businesses stay competitive in the market. However, disruptive changes not only occur at the company level; they also have environmental, societal, and institutional implications.

    The rapid pace of technological development, combined with the need for digital transformation, navigating governance, achieving return on investments is posing challenges for many businesses and organizations. Meanwhile, digital transformation is critical, and business leaders think it is the single most important investment now and in the future that businesses, practices and organizations can make to drive enterprise value. To stay ahead, it is essential to identify and understand key trends and challenges in order to harness them for business advantage.

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    In the era I would refer to as old technology, real estate transaction and processes could be time consuming, labour-intensive and tedious. Digital transformation in the real estate industry is a game-changer which has fundamentally changed the day-to-day operations and interactions between players across the industry. Integration of digital technologies, new tools like artificial intelligence and automation has redefined how real estate firms operate and serve their customers, as well as how agents, sellers, and buyers interact. In order words,

    In summary, digital transformation in real estate is about leveraging technology to create a smoother, more efficient experience for everyone involved. Whether it’s automating tasks, enhancing customer interactions, or improving overall operations, embracing digital tools is essential for success in the ever-evolving real estate landscape.

    In order words, technological renaissance is going beyond just changing business processes, it is reshaping the entire spectrum of the property customer experience, enhancing businesses scale, innovate, and maintain a competitive edge in an evolving market.

    By embracing digital technology, real estate businesses and practices can increase their operational efficiency through the automation of tasks, resulting in streamlined processes that drive growth and expansion beyond traditional geographic limits. From my experience, application of digital technologies in real estate impacts the practice, impacts interaction with clients, boosts productivity, streamlines operational processes, enables remote property inspection and management in diverse and positive ways.

    In a nutshell, impact of digital transformation on the real estate sector is profound and far-reaching. The earlier we embrace it, the better for the profession and its practitioners. Even government is towing the same path. Lagos State for example recently launched the electronic Geographic Information System (e-GIS) platform where residents can apply, search and verify land titles across the state online before purchase is made.

    Technology is quickly emerging and shaping the future of real estate; that is the reality we must awake to, key and adapt to in order to remain relevant and impactful.

    •Ojo is a logos based real estate consultant.

  • ‘Digital technology will drive fresh census exercise’

    ‘Digital technology will drive fresh census exercise’

    Hon. Ejike Ezeh is the Federal Commissioner representing Enugu State in the National Population Commission (NPC). In this interview with Frank Ikpefan, the technocrat who had stints as the Commissioner for Special Duties, Agriculture and Rural Development, and Youths and Sports respectively, in Enugu State, gives interesting insights on the readiness of the Commission to conduct a credible and acceptable national population and housing census, importance of enumeration, among other related issues. Excerpts:

    You were reappointed for a second tenure as the Federal Commissioner representing Enugu State in the National Population Commission (NPC). How do you feel about your reappointment?

    We give all the glory to God. For me, it is an honour and privilege to be so reappointed. I thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who felt that the NPC needed the experience and institutional memory of some of us who have been around in the Commission for some time, to conduct a credible, transparent and acceptable national census for the country, as prescribed by Section 213 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended). As you are aware, the NPC is one of the 14 “Federal Executive Bodies” established by Section 153 of the Constitution. As provided in the Third Schedule, Part 1 of the Constitution, the Commission is made up of the Chairman and a member from each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, of which I am privileged to be one of them.

    The Commission has an uncompleted project in the postponed 2023 National Population Census. As an insider in the Commission, can you tell us why that exercise was put on hold after all the human and material investment committed to it?

    First and foremost, I want you to understand that the 2023 Digital National Population and Housing Census was rescheduled and not postponed. You see, the census is a very important exercise. Conducting the exercise is not a serendipitous affair or one-off thing. It requires extensive and massive planning. The process of conducting census involves many events and stages, and is very capital intensive. And remember that Nigeria has been unable to conduct a census in the past 18 years. The last enumeration done in the country was in 2006, and like its predecessors, it was marred by many controversies. Don’t forget that the history of census in Nigeria has been characterised by incorrect and at times, unfounded narratives. So, we needed to get everything right this time around, hence our decision to hold a digital census, the first of such in the history of Nigeria.

    How far did you go in the preparation before the rescheduling?

    The preparation for the 2023 census started long ago. The NPC implemented all the necessary preparatory activities, such as the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD), conduct of pre-test and trial census, recruitment and training of census field staff, procurement and configuration of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and the establishment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

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    infrastructure across the country. We carried out advocacy and publicity campaigns across the country. In the preparation, efforts were channeled, not only towards addressing immediate needs, but also laying a solid foundation for future censuses in the country. For instance, the EAD, which involved the division of the country into small land areas, was meticulously undertaken in a way that only an update would be required for future censuses. Out of the 774 local government areas in the country, we couldn’t do EAD in only one local government area in Borno State because of the security challenges in that area. We were almost in the process of recruiting enumerators before the census was rescheduled in the course of the transition from the former government of President Muhammadu Buhari to the new government of President Bola Tinubu. In his wisdom, the former president deemed it fit and proper to allow the incoming president to make inputs and determine the date of the census, which was earlier scheduled to hold between May 3 and 7, 2023.

    Some people saw the rescheduling of the census as a setback. Don’t you feel the same way?

    No, I don’t. We lost nothing by the rescheduling of the census. Rather, it has afforded us more time to plan for the exercise to ensure that we bequeath to Nigerians credible and reliable census data. So, the census is not an uncompleted project. It is ongoing. We are hoping that President Tinubu, who we know as a man of data, will in the fairly near future make a proclamation on the new date for the census.

    You harped on the controversies that trailed the conduct of the national census over the years in Nigeria. What makes this particular census different from previous ones?

    The controversies over previous censuses were fuelled by politics. We now feel that if we can detach politics from it as much as possible this time around, the outcome will be different from others. That was why we resolved to make the coming exercise very credible and acceptable by digitalising the process. Like I said at the beginning of this interview, the national census is a very important exercise. That is why in all our activities, we try as much as possible to play down the issue of politics because population and housing census borders on development and not politics, even though there are some elements of politics.

    You have stressed so much on the importance of the census. What are the benefits?

    Quite frankly, it may take a whole book to enumerate all the benefits of the population census. Within the limited time that we have here, I will mention a few. The census is the backbone of the national statistical system. It provides information on the size, location and characteristics of the population. The uses are numerous. For example, planners need population information for all kinds of development work, including assessing demographic trends and analysing socio-economic trends and economic conditions. Census data are also vital for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of policies. We need the data for tracking the progress towards national and international agreed development plans, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), designing evidence-based poverty reduction strategies and empowering local communities with information to enable them to participate in decision making. In terms of effective representation in government, many people don’t know that census data is used for the creation of federal and state constituencies. Besides, data generated from the census are deployed for academic research and feasibility studies by Research and Development (R&D) departments of companies and corporate organisations, for promotions, programmes and projects. I can go on and on. In NPC, we fully appreciate the importance of the census and that is why we are not looking at the issue of politics. That is why we did not make ethnicity and religion part of our questionnaire. These issues are not relevant. In fact, they are combustible. If we can play them down, then we are ready to go.

    You talked about the introduction of technology in the coming census. By implication, Nigeria will have its first Digital Population and Housing Census. Can you offer us an insight into the areas where the technology would be deployed?

    The entire process is going to be technology driven. I earlier mentioned our Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), which the enumerators are going to use. As they are getting information from the field, it will be going directly from the system to the server. This is a remarkable difference between the current exercise and previous ones. We are confident that technology will give us 85 to 90 per cent assurance. Every process will go through the PDAs and as you are getting the information, you are processing it and it will be going through the server to the dashboard.

    Insecurity is a major problem in the country today. To what extent are you collaborating with the relevant security agencies to ensure a hitch-free census?

    If you take a critical look at the whole architecture of the census, you will discover that it is an exercise that involves virtually everyone in the country, including security agencies. You will also discover that at the peak of when we thought that the exercise would go on, there were already standing committees in place, of which security was one of them. This committee involved all the security agencies in the country. The staff of NPC are not security experts. So, we need to collaborate with the various security agencies. We work hand in hand with them. The security agencies are the ones to advise us on security issues. They are the ones who will handle the issue of secessionist agitations, insurgency and banditry. So, if the country must be conducive for us to have the census, we must involve the security agencies, including the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Department of State Security (DSS) and others. We bank on them because the entire country will be mobilised, including the President himself. Don’t forget that the President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation. Our concern is how we can give our people a credible and acceptable national population and housing census. That is what our people want. Our mandate is to conduct the census. When security issues arise, the security agencies will handle them.

    Most times, the people of the South-East geopolitical zone complain of marginalisation in Nigeria. How do you think that we can address this problem?

    The question that you should ask yourself is “Who is marginalising the South East?” Marginalisation is a thing of the mind. I hope and pray that we are not the ones marginalising ourselves.  I remember that when other parts of the country were mobilising their people for the 2006 census, some secessionist agitators were threatening people not to present themselves for enumeration in Igboland. It is not hearsay. We all saw it happen. We (Igbos) contributed massively to building this very large political entity called Nigeria. Time is ripe for us to rise up and leave behind the ghost of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War, to assume our rightful place in this country. There was one book we read when we were young. It was titled, “Battle For the Mind and Black Survival,” by Prof. Chimere Ikoku. We need to get out of the mindset that we were defeated at some point because these are the hangovers that are still trailing most people. It is very important that we integrate ourselves into national politics now. That is the only way of getting out of this mentality of marginalisation. We cannot just remain in one corner, believing that someone will come and give us something. No, things don’t happen that way in a large and complex country like Nigeria. We must come out and engage constructively with other sections of the country to get what we want. I heard the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Professor Charles Esimone spoke at a colloquium in Nnewi, recently. He said that two things are marginalising the South East, the Nigerian 1999 Constitution and census. As we speak, there is an ongoing constitutional amendment at the National Assembly. The South East should take advantage of the constitutional amendment and the coming census, to get rid of this mindset of marginalisation.

    In the last census, a lot of people alleged that animals were counted in some parts of the country. What are you doing to ensure that these kinds of stories do not come up in the coming census?

    Some of us have heard such things, but there is no evidence. You need to have evidence before you start commenting. People bandy all those things around and when you ask them if they had any evidence to show that cows and goats were counted, you will see that they had none. Some even said that fishes were counted in the Niger Delta and some people believed it. How are you sure? If you don’t have any evidence, why are you saying such things? The way the coming census is planned, it will not even give room for such rumour to come out again.

    There is always this mass migration of people during the census as everyone wants to be counted in his hometown and by extension, his state of origin. What is the Commission doing to discourage such movement?

    We have been appealing to Nigerians to remain in their states of residency and be counted. Nigerians do not need to travel to their villages and state of origin to be counted as the questionnaire will capture their area of origin. If you look at the questionnaire, local government of origin and possibly, your language are provided for. Therefore, whatever you think you are benefitting from travelling, the person who did not travel will get the same benefit. If you want to get the population of your local government, the way the whole thing is designed is that by merely pressing a button, you will get the number. Whether the person is from Kano or Sokoto, once anybody from your local government clicks it, he will get all the information. That is why we are doing everything possible to discourage census migration because there won’t be any need for anybody to travel. Whether you are in Lagos or Kano, or from local government A or community Z, it is still the same thing. All we want is for Nigerians to trust us. With your support, we are going to do a credible and verifiable population and housing census devoid of politics, ethnic colouration and other divisive issues.                                            

  • UN commends Africa’s developmental, digital efforts

    UN commends Africa’s developmental, digital efforts

    The Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), Ms Amina Mohammed, has commended the developmental efforts and steady progress in digital technology across Africa, despite challenges and the need to do more.

    She spoke yesterday at the opening of the Ministerial Segment of the 52nd Session of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Marrakech, Morocco.

    Mohammed said Africa was on the move, especially when compared to progress in other regions.

    “Africa is on the move. Africa is leading by example. Even where some part of the globe are sliding and getting complacent, Africa is emerging as the continent of hope,” she said.

    Her segment attracted participants including Ms Vera Songwe, the UN Undersecretary and Executive Secretary of the ECA, and Moustafa Yousif Holi, State Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Sudan, who was also the chairman of the Bureau of experts.

    Duvvuri Subbarao, a former governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform of Egypt; and Omar Hilale, Vice President of the UN Economic and Social Council; among others, were also present.

    Mohammed, however, cautioned that Africa simply cannot resist opportunities to enhance its inclusive growth efforts.

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    “We need to be creative and innovative in our methods. The (UN) Secretary General (Antonio Guterres) has assured that the UN is ever ready to help Africa surmount its challenges. We are going to work with everybody in ensuring that no one is left behind. The UN agencies on ground will continue to channel their energy in realising regional integration and sustainable economic growth, just as the ECA is doing in Africa.

    “In this regard, one must appreciate the efforts of Ms Songwe and her team for the admirable ways they have been going about in ensuring that desired goals are met in Africa. In our drive, we must ensure no one is left behind, especially young girls,” she said.

    The former Nigerian Minister of Environment said that Africa must be conscious of the need to create about 250 million jobs in the next 10 years.

    According to her, the digital world is moving very fast and the challenges faced require a multidimensional approach, while various ministers of finance, development and planning have a lot of job to do.

  • Digital technology transforming African media, says Multichoice chief

    Rapid advances in digital technology in Africa have created new opportunities to innovate on content delivery, according to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Entertainment at MultiChoice, Yolisa Phahle.

    She said “digital disruption” has and will change how people consume media products.

    “As people who are invested and committed to the future of Africa, it is our collective responsibility to play an active role in making sure our continent benefits from this opportunity,” she said.

    Phahle spoke on the first day of the fifth edition of the Digital Dialogue, a thought-leadership platform established in 2012 and facilitated by MultiChoice.

    It is designed to address various issues facing the video entertainment industry on the continent, share industry best-practice and create a better understanding of Digital Migration and its impact on Africa’s digital landscape.

    Addressing a delegation comprising of several international industry thought-leaders and key media stakeholders from across Africa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Phahle said: “As a company, we are looking forward to investing even more in telling local stories, documenting our history and providing a platform for Africans to share African stories.

    “But today in the midst of the ongoing digital revolution – we collectively have the opportunity to not only tell stories that educate and inform African audiences, the digital age means we are in a position to take African stories to the world, and create a global market for what we do.

    “By using the internet and leveraging technology, we have the ability to reach audiences at a global level and the success of companies like Iroko TV, artists like Davido, actresses like Lupita Nyong’o and the movie Black Panther are confirmation that the world is ready to consume African stories, celebrate African culture and embrace African languages.

    “This will take incredible focus and increasingly, as we look to the future of news and media organisations, the conversation is focused on three words: content, technology and customer which we believe will continue to be essential for any news or media organization that wants to survive and grow in the future.”

    Phahle is of the view that to survive and grow, operators must find new ways of engaging more effectively with viewers when there are more choices than ever.

    “Nowadays, no-one can say with absolutely certainty what the future holds for any business in the news or media industry. What we do know, however, is that people today consume more news and entertainment than ever and I believe this trend will continue.

    “The delivery mechanisms will change, and in many ways digital is just another route to market, but the producers of the most relevant and resonant content will survive,” Phahle said.

    MultiChoice’s vision, she said, is to be the best African story teller in the world, with a promise to bring customers the best international stories.

    “Being able to tell the right story, at the right time to the right person is our absolute focus and if we are able to leverage the technology, and become obsessed with pleasing our customers we will nullify the headwinds and use the tail winds to drive exponential growth for our collective future,” the Multichoice CEO said.

    Phahle added that this year, MultiChoice is planning to start production on a number of epic African stories and use new digital platforms to create a stage for Africa to shine on while continuing to work with the best African talent to tell Africa’s stories.

    The aim, she said, is “to deliver the incredible economic benefits to Africa’s creative industries”.

    “Let’s undertake to bring this kind of prosperity to our continent and aim to use digital technology to entertain and inform the world,” Phahle added.

  • ‘Digital technology major challenge for banks’

    Leading global professional services firm that provides a  range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations, Accenture, has identified keeping up with the changes in digital technology as a major challenge for the banking industry.

    It added that consumer expectations and government regulations are other challenges facing the sector.

    Accenture Nigeria’s Managing Director, Financial Services, Toluleke Adenmosun, who spoke in Lagos about the opening of entries for Accenture Innovation Index 2018, said Accenture has received a significant number of requests from banks asking for greater insight and assistance on innovation in the first few months of 2016.

    She said with a rapidly evolving ecosystem, banks must make innovation a part of their culture and rotate to the new.

    She said: “The banking industry is evolving right now requiring banks to navigate through significant challenges to not only maintain their profitability but to also increase their revenue and meet the customers’ dynamic demands.

    ‘’The topic of “Innovation” is a critical discussion among the Banking C-Suites now, as banks are being pushed to think about innovation in new ways that were unimaginable just a decade ago.

    “We believe the biggest challenge banking in Nigeria is facing is keeping up with the changes in digital technology, consumer expectations and government regulations. Accenture has received a significant number of requests from banks asking for greater insight and assistance on innovation in the first few months of 2016. And with a rapidly evolving ecosystem, banks must make innovation a part of their culture and rotate to the new.”

    Accenture said the rapid changes in the world are increasingly rewarding those who are innovating. Adoption of new ways of doing things is driving growth in companies, expanding opportunities in economies and increasing the quality of life in nations that embrace it. The outliers in innovation and those who are improving their position have some things common – they bolster their innovation capacities through positive-sum policies such as investments in Research & Development, education, tax incentives for innovation that contribute positively to the global body of knowledge and stock of innovation.

    In partnership with The Lagos Business School and select C-Suites from tier one companies who are judges in the process, Accenture applies best practice research approaches to provide a confidential customised innovation diagnostic report that identifies each participant’s innovation strengths and weaknesses; benchmarks their innovation within their industries; and presents strategies that may help them gain competitive advantage.

    The Accenture Innovation Index 2018 will survey nearly 100 companies in banking and Fintech space – this will include interactions with these executives. This year’s index will focus on banking and the Fintech industry that is driving an increasing number of solutions to customers in the financial services space. As companies in this space are pressured to innovative and create new products and services, their impact is shaping people’s lives and contributing to the improvement of living standards in the country. In subsequent editions other industries and their impact will be indexed to give an even broader view of the various industries strengths and the nation’s most advantageous attributes.

    “We look forward to sharing the report and its findings with you once the process is completed; we are excited to see how our industry leaders compare with peers in other countries where we have conducted the survey,” Accenture added

  • ‘Pupils should prioritise digital technology’

    Gone are the days when all that pupils did was copy everything their teacher said or scrawled on the blackboard and reproduce it on exam day. Digital technology is the new frontier and the way to go.

    That was the message the proprietor of Power and Glory College, Ejigbo, Lagos State, Mr. Ezekiel Onulude, delivered to pupils of the school as part of activities marking the World Literacy Day.

    He said pupils should focus more on using information and computer technology to create rather than merely typing out schoolwork.

    Onulude said this will help them to be aware of the challenges ahead of them and compete in the modern world.

    Onulude, a retired accountant, stressed that digital technology is fundamentally changing the way people live, including access to information, knowledge, management, networking, and social services, among others.

    The principal, Mr. Chidi Aloys, urged pupils to plan and focus on how digitisation can be part of their learning.

    He said for one to be literate in a digital world, one must be able to operate and understand the terms, languages of computers.

    The resource persons Miss Judith Johnson and Miss Sonia Enumah, Senior Prefect and deputy Senior Prefect all stressed the importance of digital technology in the education sector.

     

  • ‘Digital technology a veritable sector for young entrepreneurs’

    ‘Digital technology a veritable sector for young entrepreneurs’

    From apps that teach financial skills to online business tutorials, digital tools are enabling youths to become successful entrepreneurs. A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Afterschool Centre for Career Development (ACCD), has launched an initiative in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, to prepare the youth for employment in the digital technology industry.

    StartUP are transforming sectors. Some of them are inspiring creative communities and transforming the social and economic landscape of their neighbourhoods.

    A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Afterschool Centre for Career Development (ACCD), is at the forefront of the tech-led transformation of the economy.

    That  youths in Calabar are using computers, video games and smart phones, is good news for ACCD.  ACCD is pushing more students to use digital skills to transform the social and economic landscape of their neighbourhoods with sustainable results, rather than spend their time on plays.

    The NGO has established a Digital Summer Academy (DSA) to train youths to be part of the next wave of startups and new business endeavours  in school.

    Faculty Lead, Esther Eshiet, explained that the centre set up the academy to nurture and support talented youths  across the state to acquire digital skills.

    With digital skills, she said, students could be exposed to opportunities, immersing them in hands-on innovation and technical entrepreneurship.

    According to her, the  academy supports students to apply digital skills to solve real-world problems.The programme curriculum, according to her, covers web designing and development, social media management, graphics design, Android app development, animation and video production, robotics and google tools.

    Other areas covered during the programme include career counseling, mentoring sessions, psychometric test, free software installation, leadership and financial education.

    Others are excursions to leading technology companies and tour sites as well as a #dsahotseat session with leading professionals in the country.

    Participants were taken through theory and practical lessons.

    Also, the participants presented their projects at DSA PitchFest held during the graduation.

    The keynote speaker and Chief Executive, Start Innovation Hub, Mr. Hanson Johnson, said there were opportunities for youths in the sector.

    The organisation provides mentoring, training and support and offer national and international networking opportunities for youths.

    The winners of the digital summer academy pitch fest include: Team Engage – a team of five whose idea is to develop a community website to link secondary school graduates to jobs/internship/training opportunities. The team carted away the first prize. Team 9ja Kulture won the second prize with its crowdsourcing cultural blog idea, while Team SRH clinched the third prize with their safe space sexuality education platform for teenagers.

    Under the personal category, the best all-round prize went to Miss Abigail Okon, who wants to create a platform to link midwives and pregnant women in Nigeria.

    The winners received various prizes including, three and six  months incubation support, website development and hosting, Calabar Blog, Start Innovation Hub while the grand prize of a full scholarship to attend and pitch at the  Google Developer Fest 2017 went to Team Engage and Miss Abigail Okon.

    The academy was organised with support from Girls Power Initiative and the Cross River State Job Centre.

    A participant, Rebecca Akpan, said: “My career  was nursing science, but now, the DSA programme has helped me shape my idea on the importance of been technologically inclined because technology is the future.’’

    Sarah Udo said: “Before I took part in the academy, I had interest in studying computer science in the university. The DSA Academy has helped me to understand the industry more and how I can fit in.’’

    Edidiong Thompson said: ‘’The  programme has influenced me positively. With the skills I have acquired, I want to create an online digital library for secondary school students.’’