TheNewsGuru

Tag: Technology

  • Gov. Obaseki declines financial commitment for NICT

    Gov. Obaseki declines financial commitment for NICT

    Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has declined to commit financially to the National Institute of Construction Technology, NICT Uromi, but commended the Federal Government for the foresight deployed in establishing the national institute in the state.

    This was on Thursday, at the Edo State Government House in Benin City, where the governor received members of the institute’s governing council and management, who paid him a courtesy visit.

    Governor Obaseki identified construction as one of the challenges facing the country Nigeria, and suggested the country could develop its own technology to construct roads using locally sourced materials to enable cost reduction.

    On the issue of financial assistance from the state government, he said his administration was built on truth and could not make any promises.

    The Governor, however, said the importance of such institutions as NICT cannot be overstated.

    Meanwhile, the chairman of the Governing Council of NICT Uromi, Prof. David Adewumi, disclosed that the Institution, which was established on the 26th of July 2014, had about four programmes accredited, and in need of financial support.

    He called on the state government to support the institution financially for fast-tracking development of its permanent site; accreditation of courses, and provision of utility vehicles.

     

  • US Consul General unveils tech innovation for Nigerian gas industry

    In the face of dwindling oil revenue, the United States (US) Consul General, John Bray has unveiled a new technology known as ‘Synergy and Aruba’ he said will help oil and gas firms increase efficiency.

    At the public presentation of the technology product in Lagos, Bray said the US government is renewing its commitment to supporting trade and investment in Nigeria.

    “Nigeria presents tremendous long-term growth opportunities and the United States government remains committed to supporting American companies and local partners in deploying the US technology to help tackle some of the challenges the country is facing,” Bray said.

    According to a statement, Synergy and Aruba helps companies operating in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to increase the efficiency of operations, monitor people, manage resources, make real-time decisions, reduce risks, save costs, and increase flexibility, productivity and company bottom line.

    TheNewsGuru reports the technology, being introduced by the US government, is in collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise Nigeria and its leading local partner, Manifold Computers.

    The Acting Commercial Counsellor of the US Mission, Mr. Paul Bergman, highlighted Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s long-term partnership with the American Commercial Service.

    He stressed that the US Commercial Service will continue to be at the forefront of promoting trade and investment between America and Nigeria through the development and execution of mutually beneficial international trade policies and promotion strategies.

    The Nigeria Managing Director of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Mr. Chukwuma Okpaka, noted that the high performance computing technology solution meets the modern exigencies of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.

    He said modelling and simulation applications would accelerate breakthroughs in oil and gas, science, medicine, technology, and energy sectors of the Nigerian economy.

    Bray encouraged Nigerian oil and gas industry players to avail themselves of the innovative technology with a view to harnessing Nigeria’s abundant resources, and improving their bottom-line to ultimately grow the economy.

     

  • Smart City is not priority for Nigeria – FG

    Smart City is not priority for Nigeria – FG

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), whose policy and programmes shape the nation’s tech sector, has hinted that Smart City is not a priority for the federal government of Nigeria at the moment as other economic issues are hitting hard.

    Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Director General (DG) of NITDA, said this in his office when Mr. Richard Edet, Managing Director of Nokia Nigeria, came seeking the partnership of the NITDA with Nokia in areas of capacity building, establishment of innovation hubs and deployment of Nigeria’s Smart City projects across the country.

    “Smart city is very critical to our collective development as a nation but it should not be seen as our immediate priority. Our immediate priority is to see the advancement of capacity building, digital literacy and creation of hubs across the country where IT start-ups could be incubated,” the NITDA DG said.

    However, NITDA’s stance on support for creation of hubs in Nigeria has come under radar in recent times over alleged failure to meet its funding obligations to Information Technology Developers Entrepreneurship Accelerator (iDEA), an incubator jointly created by the IT agency in partnership with the private sector.

    But, Pantami believes that the projects are failing because of the failure to consider the peculiar problems of Nigeria in rolling out IT solutions.

    One of such projects he cited to have fallen short on this count was “the case of whopping sum of $470m the nation invested on the Close Circuit Television, (CCTV) project which has now become moribund”.

    “As a people we need to think globally and act locally,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Communications, cites Smart Cities among projects like e-Government, Girls in ICT, Open Data Initiative are being implemented by the government technology arm and the supervisory Ministry of NITDA.

    Smart cities use a mix of technology innovation to create futuristic cities that makes it easier for residents to live, work and play.

    Nigeria has in recent years embraced the idea of smart city which has become a growing agenda, while some State Government like Lagos, which is promoting its Smart City Initiative with Government of Dubai, have gone ahead to unfold implementation plans.

    Lagos State has also announced plans to train one million Lagos residents by 2019 to advance its Smart City ambition and position the State as the technology frontier in Africa “in line with the Lagos state Smart City initiative in partnership with Dubai Smart City.

    Smart City Resorts Plc which is promoting the Smart City sited in Lekki Lagos says on its website that the Innovation Hub from conception “has the close support and partnership of major public sector, corporate and private ICT-industry stakeholders”.

    Promoters of the Lagos-based Smart City says that “Sector regulator and enabler, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is collaborating with private sector players and teams to develop the technology park in furtherance of a shared vision to grow the contribution of Information and Communication Technology to national development”.

    When completed the ambitious Smart City’s Innovation Hub “will provide a conducive cocoon in terms of physical and ICT infrastructure, energy, regulatory and fiscal policies for the optimum and most profitable operation and development of technology products and/or service companies. It will bring together in physical proximity world-class ICT industry companies desirous of benefiting from the regional market and the #1 African market and its biggest economy, Nigeria.”

     

  • NITEC 2017: Top ‘take aways’ for Startups

    NITEC 2017: Top ‘take aways’ for Startups

    The Nigeria International Technology Exhibition & Conference (NITEC) 2017 focused on especially startups is one of the best technology events to happen this year in Nigeria.

    NITEC is a yearly event that features experienced speakers with robust knowledge of the tech industry. It is specifically designed to showcase the best of the technology ecosystem and discuss key issues in tech and innovation. The maiden edition was held last year at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The focus of the 2017 edition, being the second edition, was on the future of big data, analytics and applications for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) development.

    The edition, which held today at the Sheraton Hotels Ikeja, Lagos, featured sessions that included disruptive areas in technology such as digital media, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), hardware, and etc.

    From the various sessions that held, here are the top ‘take aways’ for SMEs.

    • Current statistics as presented at the NITEC 2017 event reveals that there are about 20 million SMEs in Nigeria.
    • One of the best take aways from NITEC 2017 is that challenges of global and local economies are not killing businesses; rather, the challenges are making businesses define new objectives. Also, customers now define how they need to be served. Putting these together, companies are now designing how to better serve customers by using specialized tools.
    • The conference also goes a long way to show businesses must be able to maximize the power of cloud computing, as given the explosion of technology, big data now demands businesses use cloud computing and analytics to provide cognitive solutions to business problems. The growth of data is so high that technology needs to expand to be able to accommodate the growth.
    • SMEs are advised not to use past or present business models because the business model of the past is broken and won’t work today. SMEs should look for models that would be able to cause disruption in the economy. When disruptions occur, existing businesses should look to identify what and who is causing the disruption, and prepare to cause disruption as well.
    • Startups must understand that business comes first before technology – technology is the enabler. Most importantly, SMEs must understand the business of technology in order not to go obsolete like Nokia and Blackberry that have been forced to identify and foray into other business models. Technological innovations drive businesses, and a new business model could cause a revolution in the tech ecosystem that can cause a total disruption.
    • Does afroskepticism still matter today? But, the fact that a business model is African doesn’t mean it necessarily won’t work.
    • Startups seeking funding should learn to spend little at the onset and spread cost over time. Entrepreneurs must understand that the value proposition of a startup must make sense in order to get the much needed startup funds.
    • Technology solutions are most times basic and free.
    • Startups must understand the power of engagement. Startups cannot win without engaging employees, clients or customers alike, in one way or the other.
    • Businesses need data to make informed decisions.
    • An organisation must know when to reinvent itself.
    • Silicon Valley is good, but Nigerian startups must learn to study India and the Asian guys.
    • Nigeria needs a technology master plan, and a deliberate policy to drive technological innovations in the country.
    NITEC 2017: Top ‘take aways’ for Startups
    L-R: Mr. Dipo Faulkner of IBM Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Coker of Rack Centre and Mr. David Okeme of Remita.

    The event was well attended by top industry players to include the Vice Chancellor Prof. Benjamin Chukwuma Ozumba, who is transforming the University of Nigeria Nsukka into a Smart University; the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ‎InfoSoft Nigeria, Pius Okigbo, who is at the forefront of driving policies that will ensure technological innovations thrive in Nigeria; the Country General Manager of IBM Nigeria, Dipo Faulkner, who is driving a tech innovation known as Watson across Africa, and Tunde Coker, who is driving something big at Rack Centre.

    >>See more photos from the event

     

  • Nigeria needs Technology Park to drive innovations – Scientist

    Nigeria needs Technology Park to drive innovations – Scientist

    A top scientist in the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) has called for the urgent creation of a science and technology park in the country that he said would stimulate and drive innovations which will serve to grow science and technology in Nigeria.

    Scientist Alfred Kalu, who is of the Environmental Biotechnology and Bioconservation Department of the agency, made the call on Saturday in Abuja.

    He said the park would be a place for all agencies under the Ministry of Science and Technology and even private innovative institutions could come to exhibit their inventions for public view.

    The scientist advised the technology park should be created in such a way that families could go and visit any time of the day, adding that it would make it possible for Nigerians to be aware of innovations of fellow citizens.

    “This park can even go to inspire the young ones into inventing things that may be useful for the environment and will also go a long way to publicise some of the successes and breakthrough of Nigerian scientists.

    “It may even expose scientists to international collaborations because most innovations made by Nigerians are viable and of economic benefit.

    “The park will be a platform to bring all the research results from institutions and agencies in one place and this will spur healthy rivalry and competition among them.

    Speaking on the research carried out in the bio-conservation department of NABDA, he said it had to do with converting household waste products into energy.

    “The idea is for every household to be able to generate energy from the waste resource they produce, instead of the waste becoming a problem it should be turned to a useful economic resource.

    “The challenge for us as a department is to modify, standardise it and give a price tag to it so that people can see if it is economically viable or not.

    “We are hoping to collaborate with other agencies that are related to be able to build capacity in this area so that we can solve the energy problem in the country.

    The scientist noted that establishing a science and innovation park would really help to promote the research of Nigerian scientists.

     

  • Sci-tech will make Nigeria 9th largest economy in the world – Minister

    The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu has said if science and technology (Sci-tech) is exploited and harnessed, could result to achieving the projection of Nigeria as the 9th largest economy in the world.

    The Minister stated this on Wednesday after his Ministry had presented the 2017 to 2030 Science and Technology Roadmap to a sitting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in Aso Rock, Abuja.

    The Science and Technology Minister after the FEC meeting said the roadmap is aimed at projecting Nigeria to occupy the position of the 9th largest economy in the world by 2050.

    He is hoping that the roadmap will exploit the country’s rich and viable cultural heritage to achieve self-reliance in technology adding that it will be difficult to attain economic height without science and technology.

    “In the road map we also identified all the things that we need to do to place Nigeria in a position; because there are estimates that by 2050 Nigeria will, by purchasing power parity, be the 9th largest economy in the world.

    “But we cannot do this without science and technology.

    “In essence, the difference between the developed nations of the world that are the richest in the world and then the developing countries that are poor, the main difference is science and technology.

    “How do you apply science and technology to nation building?

    “So this roadmap will help our nation to take us to where we should be,” said Dr. Onu.

    He said the country was worried that many primary and secondary school students did not like to study mathematics and science subjects, which, he said, had resulted in the utilization of foreign expertise to do major projects such as construction of refineries, dams, airport, sea port, major roads and bridges.

    He added that if there was anything to do in the country, the tendency was to import. He opined this has lead to the export of foreign exchange, creation unemployment, putting undue pressure on the local currency and aggravating poverty.

    Onu said the roadmap would prepare Nigeria to be a truly great nation where it could use its resources to meet the needs of the nation for self-reliance and self-confidence.

    He noted that the country had a rich science and technology heritage where its ancestors understood their environment and had built long walls in Benin.

    The minister also said the elders also developed a leader industry that was erroneously called Moroccan leader.

    Onu also mentioned the fine artefacts and craft as well as iron technology since 3000 years ago as shown by carbon dating.

    “You can imagine that our ancestors did that and today we are unable to have our own iron and steel being produced in the country.

    “This is to let our young people to know that they have a heritage and that they should aspire to be far better than their ancestors,” he added.

    He explained that the road map intended to integrate the work of investors and researchers as well as link them up with the universities and the private sector.

    He stated that the linkage is important because it is the private sector that takes the innovations up and commercialises them.

     

  • NIIT announces 18th National Scholarship

    …vows IT scholarship’ll be affordable to all Nigerians

    The Nigerian Institute of Information Technology (NIIT) has announced application is open for its 18th National Scholarship.

    The Information Technology (IT) institute says it is subsidizing its fees to make sure that IT skills acquisition is affordable to all Nigerians.

    Mrs. Onyedikachi Aruma, Head, Kaduna Centre of NIIT reveals this while speaking with newsmen in Kaduna on Monday.

    Mrs. Aruma said the scholarship examination has been scheduled to hold July 15, and that it is open to all interested persons in its Kaduna and Abuja centres.

    Speaking on the modalities guiding the scholarship, Mrs Aruma said, “The scheme is performance based,” adding, “What you score in the examination would determine the discount you get as fees”.

    “What this means is that, the higher your scores the higher your discount,” she further stated.

    Aruma said candidates had the liberty to choose from different IT programmes such as Oracle, Software Engineering, Network Engineering, Java and Web Development, among others.

    She said that the training would last from four months to two years, depending on the progranme, noting that registration for the scholarship examination was ongoing, but would closed on July 13.

    “Registrations forms are available in our Kaduna and Abuja centres for free or you can register online at www.niit.com/nigeria.

    “Our main goal is to give back to our host community, particularly as ICT is currently the driver of global economy,” she explained.

    NIIT Ltd. is an Indian Multinational company that offers learning management and training delivery solutions to corporations, institutions and individuals.

    It claims that since its establishment in Nigeria in 1999 with offices in Abuja and Kaduna, it has trained more than 16,000 students annually and shaped the career of 160,000 students in the past 16 years.

     

  • NTDC, NDDC partnership seek to exploit technology for tourism development

    The Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has announced a partnership with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with the aim to adapt and deploy technology in the development of tourism potentials across the country.

    The Assistant Director, Press Unit of NTDC, Mrs Adamma Afanga disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja, saying “We are in the digital era; Nigeria has to explore all the tourism benefits through adaptation and deploying the best technology along the tourism value chain”.

    She said the NTDC-NDDC partnership will ensure a quick intervention on some tourism assets in the South-South region.

    “It was necessary to redefine the tourism sector by giving it a brand identity that is easy to sell in order to stimulate economic growth as well as re-positioning the Nigerian Tourism Industry.

    “There is need to redefine the tourism sector in Nigeria; we need to start within our domain, focusing on consumption of our assets, promotion and development of domestic tourism.”

    Mrs. Afanga further disclosed that redefining the tourism industry would have multiple effects on job creation, poverty alleviation, as well as strengthen the nation’s GDP and currency.

    The NTDC Director called on investors to promote domestic tourism in the country, describing Nigeria as a tourism market with a vibrant and dynamic business environment.

    “One of our strategic imperatives is to bring all stakeholders under one umbrella to sell a single all inclusive tour packages for Nigerians.

    “We need to package tourism in a simple manner that the average Nigerian can use, if we don’t package it well, individuals cannot take advantage of it.

    She also reiterated the commitment of the corporation to promote tourism potentials, which would further enhance the nation’s economy.

     

  • Submarine cable outage interrupts MainOne operations in West Africa

    For the first time in seven years it began operations, MainOne services in West Africa were disrupted due to its submarine cable outage 3000KM offshore Portugal.

    The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday June 18th, 2017, TheNewsGuru learnt from the company’s website.

    The outage, according to the Company, is the first of its kind in seven years since the infrastructure company came into operations.

    Confirming the report, MainOne marketing communications lead, Mr Temi Osunrinde said the Company experienced fault on the submarine cable system, 3000KM offshore Portugal which has caused disruptions in service to its international connectivity customers in West Africa.

    He said they have worked assiduously to ensure customers have reprieves, adding that they could restore full capacity within the next ten days.

    “Supported by our cable maintenance arrangement with the Atlantic Cable Maintenance & Repair Agreement (ACMA), we immediately mobilized a repair vessel from France early Monday morning to pick up the necessary spares and personnel to recover the affected sections of the submarine cable in the Atlantic Ocean and effect repairs. The current estimated time for the repairs may be up to 14 days,” said Osunrinde.

    “We said 14 days because that is the industry best practices, but full capacity could be restored within ten days. We are working round the clock to ensure customers get reprieve,” he further stated.

    The Company said that whilst this is an event beyond their control in the ordinary and normal course of business, the management has in the interim, made available existing restoration capacity and have secured additional capacity to offer temporary relief to the customers, where feasible.

    “We will continue to provide updates on the progress of the repair works as we assure our customers that all hands are on deck to fully restore all services and the MainOne quality that they have come to rely on,” Osunrinde concluded.

     

  • NCC assures of data availability, advances talks on licensing more Infracos

    Tony Ojobo, Director Public Affairs at the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has said the significance of data availability through robust broadband is a key resource to the building of a digital economy.

    Ojobo declared in a keynote address he delivered extemporaneously at a critical segment of the just concluded Digital PayExpo in Lagos tagged Data Fiesta.

    Data Fiesta, came up for the first time at the 17-year old event to demonstrate the importance of data and broadband infrastructure in the implementation of an impeccable payment systems in the country.

    Accordingly, Ojobo took the stage to engage the audience, giving anecdotal evidence of the value of data so notable in massive sales by Nigerian-based online malls such as Yudala, Jumia, Konga and among others.

    He noted that the huge online banking transactions that have reduced physical traffic to the banking halls, and the amazing innovations and creativity bolstered by access to data and the Internet are proofs of what is possible with good broadband and also speaks to greater opportunities in the future which are already seen in many start-ups businesses.

    “This explains why NCC is opening up new and additional spectrum bands as data needs are growing in order to increase availability of data,” Ojobo told the audience.

    He recalled the auction of frequencies in the 2.3GHz, 2.6GHz, the re-planning of the 800MHz for LTE services, the re-farming of older frequencies held by operators in the sector – all of which are earmarked for data – as concrete steps taken by the NCC to ensure availability of data.

    He added that there are also measurable derivable benefits for the data segment in the NCC’s technology neutrality stance.

    Ojobo said all these are proofs of NCC’s mindfulness of the centrality of data for economic growth and development.

    The NCC Director of Public Affairs also reminded the audience of the licensing of two infrastructure companies (Infracos) two years ago and stated that the action was designed to push the deployment of backbone fibre across the country, and informed the audience that NCC has instituted processes for the licensing of additional five Infracos for the same purpose and to strengthen the wireless technology resources available in the telecom sector.

    Ojobo told the audience that the Commission is also engaging every stakeholder to secure required collaboration in all its activities.

    He recalled the visits of Management of the Commission to some State Governors to ensure that operators are given necessary permits to deploy infrastructure in the States, and he said these efforts have yielded good results most recently in Ogun and Kano States.

    Ojobo also told the audience that NCC will continue to liaise with the National Assembly and other relevant institutions of government to ensure that the Bill on the Protection of Critical National Infrastructure is passed speedily to check the recurring vandalism and theft of telecom infrastructure and equipment because of the attendant disruptions the damage and theft of equipment impose on the quality of service.