TheNewsGuru

Tag: ICT

  • NCC holds stakeholders forum on emerging 5G technology

    Stakeholders in the telecommunications sector on Tuesday in Abuja held a one-day stakeholders forum to brainstorm on Nigeria’s readiness for 5G and High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) technology.

    The forum was organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    In his presentation, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive-Vice Chairman NCC said the forum was to bring stakeholders in the telecom sector together to develop a regulatory framework in preparation for 5G and HAPS technologies.

    Danbatta was represented by Mr Austine Nwaulune, Director, Spectrum Administration, NCC.

    According to him, though the 5G framework is still being defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), there is the need to prepare toward massive deployment of infrastructure tailored to support the technology.

    He said the commission had identified some potential frequency bands that might be harmonised for 5G deployment, and therefore suspended the licensing of those frequencies.

    Danbatta stressed that this step would ensure that Nigeria was not caught unawares when those frequency bands were harmonised by standardisation bodies, key among these are 26GHz, 38GHz and 42 GHz bands.

    “HAPS is one of the emerging technologies developed to compliment capacity expansion efforts to improve broadband access to both served and underserved areas,

    “The technology is unique and promising, it is scalable and customisable, and therefore often equipped with mission-dependent payloads, which are intended to act as fixed stations, delivering services such as high-capacity wide area coverage broadband.

    “Relay stations, remote sensing, weather observations, navigation, digital TV, within the earth atmosphere, HAPS are also known to be low cost at its implementation and are expected to be the next big infrastructure for wireless communications.’’

    He said that it supports rapid roll-out and had the ability to serve many users, using considerably less communications infrastructure being its key advantage as a wireless communication platform.

    Danbatta said there was therefore the need for strategic government policies, robust frameworks and required infrastructure which was the reason for the forum.

    In his capacity, Nwaulune said the technological evolution toward 5G and the role of HAPS to increase broadband penetration in Nigeria 5G networks are the next generation of connectivity in the telecommunications industry.

    “What we are doing is to bring together stakeholders, people who are involved in one way or the other in 5G technology delivery and the regulatory conditions to discuss with them, rub minds and to guide us in taking further regulatory actions.

    “There is progression, 5G is not about today, there are still trial networks going on around the world, this is just to position people to know that there is something coming in the very near future.

    “All the technology mixes are used in bridging the digital divide and bringing service to the unconnected and some marginally connected.

    “It is the operators that deploy the networks once the standards are set and defined, the operators will roll out their networks that is when it is fully developed.’’ Nwaulune said.

    Mr Austine Igbe, who represented the President, Nigerian Institute of Information Communication Technology Engineers, said the cost of not embracing technology was higher than the cost of ignoring it.

    He added that the nation must be critical of the health and safety implication of the current trends, and must prepare to make regulations that would protect the citizenry from negative impacts.

    The forum had in attendance a cross section of ICT professionals and engineers both within and outside Nigeria.

    A research by McKinsey Global estimated that more than 75 billion devices would be connected to the internet by 2025, with global economic contribution ranging from 3.9 trillion dollars to 11.1 trillion dollars annually.

     

  • ICT: NCC boss urges states to emulate Edo

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on every state in the country to emulate what the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, was doing in the area of Information Communication Technology (ICT) and telecommunications.

    Mr Sunday Dare, the Executive Commissioner (Stakeholders Management), made the call in Benin at the South-South Stakeholders Parliament with relevant agencies in charge of telecommunications matters.

    The stakeholders parliament has as its theme, “Optimising The Benefits of Telecoms Infrastructure in Nigeria”

    Dare in his keynote address at the forum, said that Edo had taken the lead role in the sector.

    He said the commission decided to hold the regional parliament in Benin, in-line with the passion of the state government to place ICT at the heart of governance.

    He particularly lauded the state for establishing the Ministry of Science and Technology, to enhance the pace of development.

    According to him, the recent commissioning of the Edo Technology Hub, is reputably the first state backed technology hub in the country.

    “I can recall that his excellency met with the NCC leadership in Abuja sometime this year, to explore opportunities for improving access to telecommunications infrastructure and providing Edo citizens with world class telecoms and ICT facilities.”

    Dare noted that choosing Edo State as the venue for the parliament is a strong reaffirmation of the state’s pride of place in ICT deployment.

    He said Edo had articulated a framework to attract robust telecoms infrastructure to drive manufacturing, education and other socio-economic activities.

    “NCC is already supporting the state with fiber connectivity and computer laboratory services in the College of Education in Benin City and the Institute of Continuing Education, in Abudu,” he stated.

    The NCC commissioner said the meeting would enable everyone to know that telecoms infrastructure was critical to the socio-economic progress of every state in Nigeria.

     

  • NCC urges telecoms operators to boost consumer experience

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on telecommunications operators to ensure that they boost consumer experience in the industry.

    The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholders Management, NCC, Mr Sunday Dare, made the call in Lagos, during the Industry Consumer Advisory Forum (ICAF) 4th Quarter Open Meeting.

    Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), NCC, Mrs Felicia Onwuegbuchulam, Dare said that a memorable consumer experience would ensure the adoption of technology in the country.

    The commissioner said that the Nigerian communications industry had reached a level of maturity both in terms of adoption, competitiveness and technology deployments.

    He said that the focus of the industry must change to accommodate new realities.

    According to him, with the industry’s current level of growth, focus must change from merely providing good customer service to assuring superior customer experience.

    “In this new era, customer’s Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) mean little if we cannot achieve the attitudinal and behavioural loyalty which ensures that consumers are confident to embrace technology to tap into the life-changing opportunities.

    “These are opportunities which will guarantee that our country develops and that our youths are able to compete with their peers throughout the world.

    “So we must ensure that the service delivery framework encourage their use, rather than pursue reactive policies.

    “In other words, the challenge before us now, which is ‘the challenge of consumer experience’, is to ensure that we proactively remove all impediments to technology adoption.

    “The challenge is that we identify Information and Communication Technology (lCT) pain points; even before they occur and that we address them before they become an issue.

    “All of these we must do so that our citizens can enjoy faster, safer and more productive use of new technologies and service delivery models. This is the totality of consumer experience, ‘’ he said.

    Dare said that smart service providers should not be told that sound ‘customer experience’ was a differentiating factor which guaranteed them competitive advantage.

    He said that the industry was in the middle of a global evolution, which continuously challenged old ways of doing things; hence, disruptive innovations were now being brought into the mainstream.

    The Immediate Past Chairman of ICAF, Prof. Felicia Monye, said that consumer advocacy had migrated from customer service to customer experience.

    Monye said that in times past, it was thought that rendering good customer service was sufficient to achieve and retain patronage.

    She said that today’s commerce had experienced remarkable changes including competition, globalisation and enhanced level of consumer awareness and expectations.

    According to her, these factors have necessitated the need to explore other ways of relating with customers.

    “A prominent identified way of achieving this is through moving from customer service to customer experience.

    “Customer experience measures how customers feel about a company in totality and includes the emotional, physical, psychological connection customers have with a brand.

    “It is not a one-off interaction but rather includes the entire customer life cycle and every touch point a customer has with a product or service,’’ she said.

     

  • Zimbabwe to host Africa ICT summit

    Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, will on Wednesday officiate
    at an ICT convention which is expected to attract more than 500 participants from several African countries and the ICT world.

    The country’s Primary and Secondary Education Minister, Paul Mavima, told Tuesday’s Herald newspaper that the two-day Innovation Africa Summit would be hosted by Zimbabwe’s higher education ministry and two private companies, one of which is based in the United Kingdom.

    He said ministers from 17 African countries and 45 international companies such as Microsoft, Intel, JP Canon, among others had confirmed their attendance.

    “We are glad the summit will be held in Zimbabwe and is taking place within the context of the Second Republic, under which the government and the nation are working towards restoration of our country to its legitimate glory,” he said.

    “We have the highest potential in Africa for a human capital pipeline that will justify the location of their headquarters
    for the African region in Zimbabwe,” he said.

    He added that the summit was being held at a time the Zimbabwean government was working towards aligning the education sector with the requirements of the 21st century.

     

  • FG, AfDB mull $500m innovation fund for ICT growth in Nigeria

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said the Federal Government is working with African Development Bank (AfDB) to establish a 500-million-dollar innovation fund for technological growth.

    Osinbajo stated this at the opening ceremony of the 22nd African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) Annual General Meeting and Conference organized by the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos.

    The Vice President said that the fund was aimed at increasing the competitiveness of Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry.

    “We are accordingly working with the AfDB to establish a 500-million-dollar innovation fund; this will support activities in the sector.

    “Given the size of our economy and the potential of technology and creative segment, I am hopeful that capital market operators will work toward innovative financing solutions to lend further support to these two sectors,” Osinbajo said.

    He further stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) would soon issue licence for payment service banks, which would increase access to financial services, low income earners and the unbanked.

    The Vice President noted that the partnership was also essentially to ensure that African champions continued to rise in a sustainable manner.

    According to him, such partnership must be between government and private firms, as well as between businesses associations “and this is something we must pay a great deal of attention to”.

    He explained that government was committed to ensuring macroeconomic stability in an inclusive economy with a diversified production base.

    “We also realized that a conducive and supportive environment is essential for business to thrive and we have accordingly invested heavily in infrastructure while working strenuously to make it easier to do business in Nigeria.

    “We also realised the importance of sustainable future and we become the first African country to float the green bond to promote the environmental objective of our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP),” he said.

    Osinbajo said that government would ensure that its rising population was protected, housed without further depleting or damaging resources.

    He emphasised that African companies, essentially those listed on the exchanges and those that made up the association, must also be champions on the rise.

    He said that companies must innovate and take advantage of the unique features of the African economy.

    “It is evident that ASEA has a key role in our quest for economic growth and development.

    “This is not only because of the vital role that capital markets plays in our domestic economy, but because the association reflects the right place of collaboration and partnership required of African countries and economic institutions to bring about a more vibrant and dynamic continental economy,” Osinbajo said.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, urged ASEA to develop a strong and vibrant domestic investors’ base.

    Ahmed, who was represented by Ms Mary Uduk, acting Director-General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that low domestic investors’ base was limiting African capital markets.

    She said that the capital market size of Africa was very low, thereby limiting market potential, noting that ASEA must promote world-class capital market, characterised by high level of liquidity.

    The conference has “Champions On The Rise: Africa’s Ascension To More Sustainable Future” as its theme.

     

  • Digital Bridge Institute to run academic programmes

    Digital Bridge Institute to run academic programmes

    Prof. Umar Danbatta, the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), says the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) is set to run approved academic innovative programmes that will transform the economy.

    Danbatta said this during the presentation of the Expert Group on the Development of Appropriate Blueprint/Curriculum for ICT Innovation Research Programmes in Nigeria in Abuja.

    He said the institute had all it took to run programmes that the country could leverage on to build the economy.

    “We must develop programmes that would in turn transform the economy as well as empower citizens without recourse to government jobs.

    “If all of us rely on government for employment then government will be overwhelmed; the responsibility of government is to provide key services, water, electricity, roads – the engine room of the economy in any country is the private sector.

    “DBI has shown how to do it by introducing the national innovation diploma programmes and I believe that they will introduce more of such programmes immigrating from the short courses into programmes that will impact more on the lives of citizens,” he said.

    Danbatta said Nigeria was right to give attention to Information Communication Technology (ICT) in order to leverage on the power of ICT to transform not only governance but key sectors of the economy, governance, finance, transportation and health.

    “We can only achieve this transformation by building a critical mass of ICT adoption and use, training the human capital that is needed in order to ensure the trainees innovate applications that will further empower citizens economically and be able to socially transform the country.”

    Dr Ernest Ndukwe, the Chairman of the panel, said ICT plays a pivotal role in powering the development of the modern world and to choose to ignore it was to remain in the doldrums of underdevelopment.

    According to him, the World Forum in its 2017 Global Information Technology Report stated that `ICT are vectors of economic and social transformation by improving access to services, enhancing connectivity, creating business and employment opportunities’’.

    He added that the Heads of States in the United Nations’ Declaration at the beginning of the new Millennium resolved to develop and implement strategies that give young people a real chance to find decent and productive work.

    “This is also in line with the leadership role of the Commission in ICT capacity building to promote digital literacy and support the development of manpower for the ICT sector of the economy.

    “The Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) which has been a most important channel for NCC to facilitate ICT training and development has trained over 50,000 participants since inception.

    “It is in that spirit that the panel reaffirmed it as a veritable vehicle for furthering the broad goals articulated in the recommendations in the panel report.

    “DBI can become the hub and the catalyst for ICT innovation research programmes in the country enabling skills acquisition, tech start-ups and the much needed job creation for the digital economy of today,’’ Ndukwe said.

    Speaking on sustainable funding for DBI, the chairman noted that similar successful training and manpower development institutions around the world do not the sustain their operations from internally generated income alone.

    “It is our recommendation that sustainable funding can be guaranteed for DBI if a small proportion of the Annual Operating Levy (AOL) is permanently earmarked for its operations but within a framework that ensures accountability.

    “The funding mechanism would guarantee that DBI is able to sustain the operations of the ICT hubs and innovation centres and achieve the objective for which they are setup.

    “It is also proposed that these hubs and innovation centres would be primarily devoted to software development and engineering,’’ he said.

    Sen. Olabiyi Durojaiye, Board Chairman, NCC, while commending the panel, said the assignment given to the panel was premised on the commitment of the commission to the establishment of ICT learning and education in the country.

    Durojaiye noted that the DBI had basic facilities to house ICT research centres in Lagos and Abuja, and the focus was to actualize its mandate in accordance with the ideals of its founding fathers.

    This, he said, included identifying the `Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg’ of Nigeria who are currently roaming the streets in search of salaried jobs.

    “The challenge is for our youths to be major actors in the world Fourth Industrial Revolution by discovering, innovating and inventing solutions that will address current and future needs of mankind.

    “Nigeria will thereby earn more foreign exchange and respect in the comity of nations. Therefore the panel was to look into the development of an ICT curriculum for Training and Research programme in each proposed centre.

    “Identify and profile the current state of DBI physical infrastructure and existing gaps, as well identify utility requirements for the centres, among other things,”he said.

    The board chairman assured the panel that the outcome of the report would receive serious attention, adding that the commission will work in conjunction with DBI toward implementing the recommendations of the panel.

    The panel came up with 18 recommendations and membership comprising of Dr Ernest Ndukwe as the Chairman; Titi Omo-Ettu, member, and Prof. Mohammed Ajiya, member.

    Other members are Alhaji Abdullahi Maikano, Dr Ike Adinde, Mr Johnson Asinugwo and Mr Shehu Olaniyan.

     

  • EFCC relocates data centre after fire outbreak

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has relocated its data centre, following the fire outbreak of Monday evening at the Wuse 2 zonal office of the commission.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports the commission also relocated the office of the combined inter-agency task force.

    Both the EFCC data centre and the inter-agency task force, which were housed by the affected two storeys Costa Hall, have been relocated to the commission’s Jabi new Headquarters.

    According to the EFCC, the value of the damaged items, mostly Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consumables, is in a few millions.

    “However, a detailed analysis is being awaited,” the commission stated.

    Recall that men of the Federal Fire Service (FFS), Wuse Zonal office on Monday successfully subdued an inferno that almost razed down the EFCC building.

    The fire fighters led by the Sector Commander, Melone Onyekachi, arrived the Wuse 2 office of the Commission when the service was alerted of the fire by the incident duty officer of the commission, Kayode Oyetunde at 1910 hours.

    The fire started at the former newsroom which now serves as storage for ICT equipments/consumables that were retrieved from the commission’s former offices scattered across the capital city.

     

  • NCC advocates affordable LTE mobile devices

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) device manufacturers to produce affordable Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile devices.

    Mr Bako Wakil, the Head, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, NCC, made the call on the sideline of the 2nd Type Approval Industry Working Group Meeting in Lagos.

    In telecommunication, LTE is a technology standard for high-speed wireless communication for mobile devices and data terminals.

    It offers higher bandwidth, meaning greater connection speed, and better underlying technology for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and multimedia streaming.

    Wakil said that there was the need for affordable LTE phones, as the ones available in the Nigerian market were expensive.

    According to him, affordable devices will ensure that Nigerians receive the Fourth Generation (4G) technology experience.

    “Operators are offering 4G services in some major cities in Nigeria now but if your device is not 4G compliant, you will not get that 4G experience.

    “There are 4G devices but many people cannot afford them because they are expensive. It is beyond ordinary person’s reach.

    “We are appealling to the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) – Ericsson, Huawei, Tecno, to produce 4G compliant phones at cheaper rates, looking at the size of Nigerian market,” he said.

    Wakil said that more LTE devices were being submitted to the commission for Type Approval.

    He said that some of the challenges of the LTE phones in the country were that OEM do not have repair centres and the warranty agreements for the phones were not clear enough.

    Wakil said that NCC was usually neutral on the type of technologies that telecommunications operators deploy to provide their services to customers.

    He said that according to the European Commission, technology neutrality is the requirement for national regulatory authorities to take the utmost account of the desirability of making regulation technologically neutral,

    According to him, the commission neither imposes nor discriminates in favour of the use of a particular type of technology.

    “It is preferred that the market determine what technologies are appropriate for its development,” he said.

     

  • NITDA partners UNILAG to boost ICT lawyers

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to increase the number of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) lawyers in the country.

    Speaking during the signing on Thursday in Lagos, the Director-General of NITDA, Dr Ali Pantami said that the partnership was to ensure the implementation and enforcement of ICT policies and laws in Nigeria.

    Pantami said that with the policies on ICT on ground since 2006, there were no enforcement, due to insufficiency of ICT lawyers.

    He said that if the country focused on producing ICT lawyers, policies will be implemented easier.

    “What we are targeting is to get substantial number of ICT lawyers that can understand and regulate the ICT sector.

    “We are looking for people who will enforce our policies and laws.

    “We are agitating for local content, and the patronage of local content cannot be enforced without ICT laws and ICT lawyers.

    “NITDA has the mandate to regulate IT and develop IT; and one of the ways to implement this is by sponsoring students in the area of IT,’’ the director-general said.

    The Vice Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said that the partnership was a landmark step for the country.

    Ogundipe called on other agencies to partner with the institution to ensure the development of the economy.

    He said that the university would do everything possible to ensure that the ICT Law programme was known, not only locally but internationally.

     

  • NCC partners academia on research, innovation

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has directed funds to universities to encourage innovation in the country.

    The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, stated this on Wednesday in Lagos, during the Second Roundtable with the Academia, Industry stakeholders and others, for the South West Region.

    Represented by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, NCC, Mr Ubale Maska, Danbatta said that the commission had partnered universities to boost research and development.

    He said that the advancement of technology across several spheres of human endeavour had created new industries, opportunities, knowledge areas and challenges.

    This, according to him, had increased the speed at which alignment between the different stakeholders in the economy should take place, to ensure that no aspect of development was left behind.

    “Innovation is seen as a way to break out from the old and embrace the new technologies.

    “’Innovate or Die’’ is a slogan used by many business enterprises. In order to survive, the industry needs to embrace innovation.

    “Innovation to telecommunication companies can be a linear machine to deliver what they deliver best.

    “Every telecommunications provider will aspire to transform into that new agile future-looking telecommunication company,’’ Dabatta said.

    He said being aware of this increasing phenomenon, the commission among other things, directed funds to boosting research and development in universities across the country to encourage innovation.

    “I am glad to say that our universities are making good progress in Information and Communication Technology research and development,’’ he said.

    According to Danbatta, the academia is a key driver of innovation in all spheres of human endeavour.

    He said that the ideas, inventions and improvements that emanated from the academia were required by the industry for improved efficiencies and productivity.

    Danbatta said that there was increased delivery of speed by various broadband technologies like 4G and 5G technologies.

    He said advancement in processor and other electronics technologies had led to huge opportunities and risks.

    This, he said, necessitates collaboration between academia, industry and regulators to ensure the technologies can be properly harnessed and standards built in such a way that is beneficial to all stakeholders.

    Maska, who was in turn represented by Mr Bako Wakil, Deputy Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, NCC, said the NCC was seeking to promote synergy between academia, industry and the regulator.

    He said this was to facilitate innovation, industry growth and sustainability.

    Maska said that technology had become the driving force that was unleashing new ways of doing things in an unprecedented manner.

    According to him, how the telecommunication sector advances and how it does so in a sustainable and ethical way should be the concern of all.

    “As a consequence, the NCC’s vision of what this forum should achieve is that Nigerians become an integral part of the global ICT community; contributing our quota to advances in ICT globally.

    “’Over the years, the industry has experienced a remarkable growth. Recent forecasts by Insight Research Corp. shows that worldwide, telecommunications industry revenue will reach 2.4 trillion dollars in 2019.

    “Consumer demand for the latest wireless devices and higher bandwidth are driving the growth in telecommunications service, while the shift to cloud-based solutions is enriching the value of the networks.

    “A large percentage of business activities now depend on these mobile devices and network applications for everything from electronic commerce to navigation to consumer service.

    “Success I believe usually comes with talent, willpower and hard work in equal measures. The academia has all of these in abundance,” he said.