Universities, Private Institutions Urged to Adopt Digital Transformation Road Map

Ugo Aliogo

The Executive Secretary, Knowledge Exchange Centre (KEC), Oluwatosin Ogunsanya, has urged universities and private institutions to adopt a digital transformation road map to help fast-track the development and growth of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Nigeria.

Ogunsanya, who disclosed this yesterday in Lagos at the orientation ceremony for the GAP Digital Skill programme, said if Nigeria is desirous of being a global leader in the technology space, universities and other institutions of higher learning should toe the line of adopting digital transformation plan.

He urged the federal government to adopt a national digital framework that would help the country to transform professional practices into technology-driven processes.

Speaking on the digital skill programme, he revealed that they are admitting 100 young graduates across the country to participate in their graduate advancement programme.

He further explained they started the programme in 2015 to help graduates bridge the skills between what employers wants and the skills that they lack, adding that in the training, they are focusing on digital skills, “and we have been in it for the past three years. The skills we are focusing on is on social media management.

“The 100 persons that were admitted into the programme will be mentored by 25 professionals across the digital marketing industry in Nigeria, alongside one or two persons abroad. They are going to go through three months programme in addition to their social media marketing programme, so they have an eight weeks social media marketing programme-six weeks on mentoring and three weeks of job readiness training. In addition, to the digital marketing training programme, we will teach them how to get a job and keep a job. We will equip them with problem solving and critical thinking skills. So, this is the start of the three months journey that will end in May.

“A lot of employers are undertaking digital transformation of their business. Employers need digital savvy employees, and graduates need to understand that we are in a digital transformation age, so they need to get digital skills. Also, there is problem solving; no employer wants an employee that they will teach how to solve problems. They want a situation where they give you a job, and you are able to provide the solution to the problem.

“So, what employers want is problem-solving skills, digital savvy and critical thinking. Employers want people who are very adaptable because the world is changing, new technologies are coming up, people are willing to learn and able to handle technologies, so that we are not worried about re-training our staff every two years because of new technologies. So, the top skills are critical thinking, problem solving, digital savvy, curiosity and adaptability.”