The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ICT

  • Workers sharpen ICT skills

    Secretaries and administrators at FUNAAB have enhanced their knowledge of e-documents thanks to a workshop organised by the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Ogun State Chapter.

    The 5th Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Executive Workshop was themed, “Advanced e-Document Management Techniques”

    Chairperson of NCS, Dr. Bukola Onashoga, said the workshop was held in FUNAAB, to enable the university appreciate better the benefits of Information Technology.

    She noted that attending the workshop would improve the job performance of the participants.

    Topics of lectures delivered included: “Maintenance and Installation Techniques”, Mr Akintunde Olubiyi of the Department of Computer Science; “Internet Technologies”, Mr. Sodiq Onaolapo of the Centre for Innovation and Strategy in Learning and Teaching (CISLT); and “Preparation of Presentation Slides” by Mr Sanni Waheed of the Information and Communications Technology Resources Centre (ICTREC)

    Mr. Niyi Orisakiya of ICTREC also spoke on “Tips for Mobile Phone/Devices Usage for Effective Administration;” while Mr. Tunde Tijani of NCS, spoke on “Advanced e-Document Processing Technique.”

    Dr. Onashoga’s spoke on, “Research Design and Methodology.”

     

  • Stakeholders push for ICT expansion in tertiary institution

    Stakeholders in the tertiary education have identified Information and Communication Technology ICT as the only means of expanding access to tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

    This was the resolve  of participants who converged in Abuja for the 2015 Conference on Technology Assisted Learning jointly organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC), American University of Nigeria (AUN) and the Digital Promise Foundation.

    Speaking on transiting from obsolete teaching method to ICT, the Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, urged stakeholders in the university system to key into the ongoing change in the country, by addressing key problems of access and quality of the sector.

    “We have about 2.4 million students in Nigerian universities and over 1.8 million students still seeking admission every year bearing in mind that we only have 500,000 spaces. Then the question arise on creating more access and knowing that we have 140 universities out of which 61 are private, and 39 are state-owned. We need more access”

    Based on the foregoing, Okojie suggested that the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) should be strengthened and encouraged more in the use of ICT for its teaching and learning exercise.

    “ICT of course will improve the quality of students produced by our universities and will also enhance teachers quality. What we need basically is how to ensure expansion of access into the tertiary institutions.”

    On the establishment of a common platform for sharing advance technology among universities in Nigeria, the Secretary General of Committee of Vice Chancellor, Prof Micheal Faborode, urged the Federal Government to rescue Nigeria Research Education Network (NgRen) which according to him, is in comatose due to insufficient fund to strengthen the network.

    “NgRen is a very good platform that is expected to connect all universities on the same platform to share research materials and exchange ideas on University system if not only now that is in a comatose state and needs funding to avoid its present dwindling state, NgRen will also allow universities to key into e- learning,” Faborode said.

    The Keynote speaker and the Former Executive Secretary of NUC, Prof. Peter Okebukola, who spoke on ‘ICT in the Nigeria Education Sector: its current state and future prospects’ said the current curriculum in Nigerian schools is not keeping pace with the current revolutions in advance technology.

    Okebukola identified weak capacity of school administrators and inertia to change from analogue to digital frame of mind, as hindrance to full adoption of ICT in Nigeria schools.

    He recommended capacity building for teachers and school administrators in ICT to enhance teaching, research and school management.

    “NUC should initiate and sustain capacity building in ICT for teaching, research and management for vice chancellors, and all universities teachers in specialised field,” Okebukola said.

     

  • ‘Nigeria’s ICT regulation should support innovation’

    The latest edition of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)’s comprehensive report on global ICT regulatory developments, Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2015, reveals a fast-evolving ICT landscape, as devices and services proliferate, broadband connectivity becomes increasingly pervasive, and the hyper-connected world of the “‘internet of everything” becomes a reality.

    The report confirms that future network traffic will increasingly be driven by machine-to-machine (M2M) traffic generated by billions of connected devices, products and sensors, with M2M communications over mobile cellular networks already emerging as the fastest-growing ICT service in terms of traffic.

    In total, one billion different kinds of wireless internet of things (IoT) devices are expected to be shipped during this year, up 60 per cent from last year’s figures, to reach a predicted installed base of 2,8-billion connected devices by end of the year.

    As many as 25-billion networked devices are predicted to be connected by 2020, driven largely by consumer-connected entities and followed by manufacturing, utilities and transportation.

    The major problem with this fast growing information communication technology (ICT) world is the regulations; they are simply not keeping up. In many instance political interference stifles regulators, often to the point that by the time they have agreed on a draft regulation, the ICT world has long overtaken them.

    Regulators and businesses alike have to navigate the issues surrounding so-called “fourth-generation” ICT regulations.

    The ITU report states that characterised by greater complexity and cross-sectoral implications, fourth-generation regulation attempts to come to grips with the enormous social and economic disruption ICTs are bringing in their wake.

    The report recommends flexible, light-touch regulation, and a recognition of the rights of both businesses and consumers in defining new frameworks for an emerging global digital environment.

    In January 2015, the number of global active social media accounts reached over 2,07-billion, with active mobile social accounts representing 81% of that total.

    With active social media users spending an average of nearly two hours 25 minutes per day on social platforms, the economic impact of the time spent on social media has not been lost on marketers and advertisers.

    But while the blurring of lines between the physical and digital world is creating new economic opportunities, it also raises a host of new social questions and challenges for regulators.

    Every hour of every day, over one hundred million photos are uploaded to Facebook: every second, one hour’s worth of video footage is uploaded onto YouTube.

    Google is estimated to process well over a petabyte of data every single day – equivalent to 100 times the data stored in the largest library in the world, the US Library of Congress.

    With the cost of computing (both processing and storage) falling and the speed and ease with which data can be transferred rising with ever-faster processor speeds, applications that draw on big data are proliferating.

    The report outlines eight principles of big data implementation, and recognises big data’s power as a driver of innovation.

    But it also warns of the potential downside to the dramatic increase in the collection and storage of data, including personal data, and notes that regulators will need to come to grips fast with both the positive and negative applications in order to maintain consumer trust.

    It’s becoming evident that regulators need to pay serious attention to how they will support innovation and not slow it down.

    It is also clear that business needs to play a greater role in regulation and that governments should stand back and allow regulators and business to work as a team to ensure that the benefits of ICT are available to and shared by all.

     

    Source: EngineerIT

     

  • Buhari to ministry: Develop ICT revenue potential

    Buhari to ministry: Develop ICT revenue potential

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday directed the Ministry of Communications Technology to work harder to fully develop the revenue-generation potential of Nigeria’s information technology sector.

    Speaking after receiving a briefing from the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, President Buhari also directed the ministry to bring forward for his consideration and approval, all pending proposals for the development of the country’s IT sector which require the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

    Buhari in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said: “Where you don’t need EXCO approval and you are not in breach of the law and will not lose money, you can go ahead.

    “Now that oil costs less and we are contending with its theft, we have to move to areas where we can realize revenue quickly.”

    The President welcomed the plan by the ministry to use post offices across the country for IT and financial transactions especially in the rural communities, saying that he was happy to hear that “we are recovering the post offices from rats and rodents.”

     

     

  • Expert condemns wrong deployment of ICT

    A professor of Computer Science, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife Rotimi Adagunodo, has expressed displeasure at the wrong deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), especially for plagiarism. This practice, Adagunduro alleged, is common among students in tertiary institutions nationwide.

    Adagunodo delivered the inaugural lecture of the School of Technology Lagos State Polytechnic Ikorodu with the theme: Information Communications Technology (ICT) for Changing the Quality of Research and Development.

    “It is not supposed to be like that” Adagunodo protested. ‘You are supposed to access the materials, read through them, digest them, and then induce from them instead of turning out document replete with incompatible and irrelevant data,” he said.

    “It is your responsibility as a researcher to decipher if the data you have before you is relevant, answers your research question or whether it can be contextualised,” he added.

    Adagunodo urged researchers to take advantage of professional software and packages in the conduct of their research and data processing, for accuracy and uniformity.

    He also urged governments to up their investment in research development and innovation, to ensure Nigeria’s full economic potential and development.

    He said policymakers should also de-emphasise reliance on resource-based economy and focus on knowledge-based economy through ICT, for greater prosperity.

    “Up till now, we cannot say we have entered into the group of developed nations because we still depend so much on oil.

    “We need to go back to research development and innovation, which can only be done in a knowledge-based or knowledge-driven environment. The deployment of ICT in Research, Development and Innovation (RDI); eventually, produces knowledge-based production system, and that is going to be the nucleus, the core of the knowledge-based economy.

    Earlier, the Rector, Mr Oluyinka Sogunro, said the lecture was timely, given the country’s current socio-economic challenges.

    “From Physics to Mathematics, to Medicine, scientific research is now impossible without the support of ICT facilities; and it provides the infrastructure for economic development,’’ Sogunro said.

    Dean, School of Technology Mr Olumide Metilelu also said:“The role of ICT in social and economic transformation cannot be over-emphasised, as it enables users to create access, manipulate and disseminate information particularly for changing the quality of research and development.’’

     

  • Tech experts seek e-govt’s adoption to tackle corruption

    Tech experts seek e-govt’s adoption to tackle corruption

    Information communication technology (ICT) experts have called on the three tiers of government in the country to adopt electronic or e-government to prevent further stealing of public funds.

    Speaking during a two-day E-Government Summit 2015  in Abuja, the said government officials should not be allowed to deal with physical cash.

    The conference, which ended yesterday brought together experts from different sectors of the economy cutting across financial services, ICT, agriculture, among others. It was organised by the E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), in collaboration with the Financial Services Strategy (FSS) 2020 and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Speaking on the occasion, Anambra State Governor, Dr. Willie Obiano, said the adoption of e-government in Anambra, especially in the area of tax collection has raised the state’s Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) from less than N1 billion to its current N1.1 billion monthly with the ultimate objective to increase it  to N3 billion monthly.

    “In Anambra, our aggressive pursuit of a vision and mission strategies through an efficient use of ICT has attracted an inflow of investment to the tune of N2.4 billion to Anambra State in the past one year.

    “The whole idea is to use government machinery to channel private sector interest to the advantages of the citizens by making the environment conductive through efficient use of ICT to achieve this.”

    Deputy Governor, Operations at CBN, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, said the introduction of electronic transaction policies by the apex bank was meant to ensure efficiency in financial transactions and curb financial corruption in the system.

    He said while the federal government and its paratstatals have also embraced a number of ICT-related initiatives in recent past in their services, with resultant cost-saving and ability to plug the leakages in its financial dealings, “there is an urgent need to popularize wider and holistic embrace of e-government in its totality.”

    He noted that with the passage of three major bills relating to electronic transactions in Nigeria by the sixth National Assembly, the coast is now clear for e-payment landscape in the country to exhibit increased sanity.

    Head, Programme Office, FSS2020, Mr. Oluwatoyin Joko, said the collaboration with E-PPAN was considered critical as it allows FSS2020 Office to see how it can better re-organise the major markets of financial market, insurance, pension and mortgage and agriculture and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) using e-government as strategy.

    “Beyond restructuring all these sectors, we also know that cases of financial corruptions, as we have been told to have witnessed in the last 10 years by Mr President where about $150 billion was said to have been stolen and taken outside the country, would be minimised,” he said.

    E-PPAN President, Mr. Macaulay Atase, said the forum was organised to facilitate dialogue that would result in the evaluation of how the adoption of ICT tools into service delivery by the government at all levels could result in increased transparency, efficiency and accountability, especially in the area of financial management.

    Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, said the ministry came up with a National E-Government Master Plan last year, which recommended strategies which government at all levels can implement to have a uniform e-government strategy that guarantees improved efficiency, transparency, convenience and lower cost of accessing services.

    He emphasised that e-government helps to strengthen public institutions, encourages delivery of civic responsibilities and accelerate the growth of the nation’s economy.

  • Captives of liberty

    Some might say the correlation is far-fetched. But the power of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has obliterated national boundaries and shrunk our world. Our march of history is now conveyed in contemporary, real-life tempo by agencies of instant communication. When Pope Francis gave his opinion on gay in July 2013, he spoke directly to Justice Anthony Kennedy and his brother justices who formed the majority in the judgement that legalised gay marriage in the US. He also addressed directly such tendencies across the world, some of whom will rule on same-sex (related) suits in the future.

    I fantasised the likes of Justice Anthony Kennedy argue thus:  ”Eh! We are a liberal democracy. This is a holy man who should be the embodiment of the Holy Book saying, practically, there is nothing wrong with being gay. So who are we ordinary mortals to judge, condemn and deny gays marital rights? Even if we were to be sentenced to eternal hell on the Judgement Day, we already possess a plea in mitigation!”

    Here is how the Guardian (UK) reported the dangerous remarks of the pontiff on Monday, June 29, 2013.”Pope Francis says he will not judge priests for being gay.”

    “Pope Francis reached out to gay people on Monday, saying he would not judge priests for their sexual orientation…’ If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?’ Francis asked. His predecessor, Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory…”

    The comments of the pontiff, repeatedly broadcast across the world, are branded on my mind. “Is Pope Francis seeking worldly acceptance at the expense of the truth? If an armed robber is full of good works, who am I to judge him?” I knew instantly there would be repercussions, the scale of which I might have underestimated.

    I recall a similar sentiment by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, had attracted my censure some years ago, where I called on him to take the most honourable path by repudiating his leadership of the Anglican Communion. He had even expressed a more sacrilegious opinion in a letter he allegedly wrote before he became the leader of the Anglican Church: ”I concluded that an active sexual relationship between two people of the same sex might therefore reflect the love of God in a way comparable to marriage, if and only if it had about it the same character of absolute covenanted faithfulness.” This was blasphemy writ large!

    According to Pope Francis, ”When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem…they’re our brothers.”

    No, Holy Father. Gays are not our brothers. They become our brothers only if they repent and forsake their evil ways. A gay person lives outside nature, outside the law of God. You cannot continue to be gay and please the Lord, the same way an armed robber cannot continue in his or her criminality and at the same time “accept the Lord and full of good will.”

    By the way, we do not know the exact passage of the Bible or Scriptures that guided the opinion of the pontiff. The Bible is unambiguous on the place of gay, sodomy, lesbianism, etc. Here is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV): ”9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

    If the truth must be told – this is a matter of life and death.  You cannot love the world and simultaneously love God. According to 1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV), ”15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

    The United States Supreme Court ruled on Friday, June 26, that same-sex couples could get married in the country. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who read the lead judgement in the consolidated suit, Obergefell v. Hodges, declared: ”The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity. The petitioners in these cases seek to find that liberty by marrying someone of the same sex and having their marriages deemed lawful on the same terms and conditions as marriages between persons of the opposite sex.”

    This ruling is obscene and debases our shared humanity. It is the very second in the row of notorious liberties in the US that places humanity below the level of animals. The first being the right to kill (the so-called freedom to possess firearms), since it is easier to purchase a gun than buy candies in a supermarket. And so our humanity is continually assailed by captives of liberty, as Americans gun themselves down daily for no just cause. Yes, in the name of liberty!

    Gays are social deviants who ought to live on the fringes of society. At best, they are like those with mental affliction, who should be absorbed in the social homes and rehabilitation centres till their humanity is restored. Gay is obscene and violates human dignity. Therefore, the infamous 5-4 majority decision of the US Supreme Court ought to be reviewed and set aside. All laws banning gay or same-sex behaviour should be upheld. All lovers of humanity must unite to turn the heat on the US. We must not allow America to turn our world upside down.

    And to the likes of Anthony Kennedy, who may wish to rely on an excuse of being misled on the Judgement Day, the Bible – the commandment, the word – is within your reach:

    “11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.”  (Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (NKJV))

     

    • Soyombo, public affairs commentator, sent this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com
  • ECOWAS reaffirms commitment to ICT

    ECOWAS reaffirms commitment to ICT

    The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is review its Information Communications Technology (ICT) strategy to ensure the continuous development and integration of its member states.

    ECOWAS Commissioner for ICT Mr. Isaias Barreto da Rosa said on Tuesday in Abuja that the review was also aimed at creating an open and competitive common market for ICT in the region.

    He said the Commission was committed to the development of ICT services to boost social and economic activities in member states.

    “ICT is fundamental to any region in search of innovation and productivity. It is a critical enabler to the growth and development required in the region. It can drive competitiveness and provide opportunities,’’ he said.

    Barreto da Rosa said in reviewing and adopting the ICT strategy, the Commission was conscious of the need to improve on telecommunications infrastructure in the region.

    “It is also important to make telecommunication services affordable in West Africa and create an environment capable of promoting innovation and entrepreneurship,’’ he said.

  • ‘ICT strategic to Buhari’s change agenda

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Technology, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, yesterday said that President Muhammadu Buhari considers Information and Communications Technology as an important tool to the success of his administration.

    Dr. Olaopa, who spoke at the opening ceremony of an in – house- training workshop organised for officials of the ministry in Abuja, said that Buhari was dissatisfied with the direction Nigeria took in the past.

    He, therefore, assured the trainees that the president will introduce changes that will be deliberate, spirited and reconstructive to reposition existing policies.

    Dr. Olaopa said: “It is within this broad policy indication of Mr. President that we are gathered today, to begin to set in motion a thinking process on how we should manage the change as it unfolds. This is coming against the background of the outcome of our 2014 end of year retreat and on-going effort to rethink our sector’s reform policies and programmes within the framework of the change agenda of the new administration as it unfolds.

    “This will ride on the on-going industry wide baseline study that we commissioned last year that will provide statistical basis for taking forward ICT sector development and contributions to the nation’s GDP in the next four years.

    “Mr. President has pronounced ICT as strategic to his change agenda. This change, from the statements of the President so far and measures already taken, arises from an acute dissatisfaction with the direction that the nation has taken in the last few years. Change therefore would mean a specific, deliberate and spirited reconstructive framework for recalibrating existing policies and institutional configurations as well as the values that underpins them.”

  • NGO to empower girl-child with ICT

    To make the girl child versatile in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) skills, Women Technology Empowerment Centre (WTEC) is set to mentor pupils from public schools in the state.

    The  two-week programme titled: ‘Geeky Divas-Grooming ICTpreneurs’ which commences on Sunday August 2, will expose 30 pupils to animation programming using scratch raspberry Pi, mobile application development, digital video production, graphics designing using corel draw, 3D designing using sketch-up, robotics programming and excursions to technology companies. They will also participate in leadership activities.

    WTEC is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dedicated to improving the economic and social empowerment of girls and women via ICTs.

    Mrs Modupe Darabidan, WTEC programme manager, said evidence abound that knowledge of ICT in women is lower than men, thereby depriving the former of the opportunities and chance to network with others.

    She said: “Our objectives are to help girls develop an early interest in computers and other information technology. The two weeks education will be provided with conducive atmosphere. The long term goal is to increase the number of Nigerian women using technology productively for learning, professional and leadership activities.”

    The WTEC’s initiative comprises technology literacy training, technology-based projects, mentoring and work placement. It also engages in research and publishes works examining pivotal issues on African women use of technology, barriers preventing or limiting technology, and strategies for more efficient technology.