President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Mr. Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, has said ubiquitous internet connectivity will enhance digital transformation and enable digital education, adding that software Nigeria, in line with internet connectivity, has the capacity to contribute to national development.
Mba-Uzoukwu, disclosed this during his keynote address at the Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) forum, organised recently in Lagos by DigitalSENSE.
The forum, which was chaired by the President of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Prof. Adesina Sodiya, with the theme: Digital Cooperation: Enhancing Multi-stakeholder Governance for Digital Economy, discussed how government could tap into emerging technologies to leapfrog Nigeria in attaining digital transformation.
Mba-Uzoukwu, who presented the keynote on ‘The Role of Nigerian Software in Enhancing Governance in Digital Economy,’ noted that there was nothing in human history as transformative as the internet, because it has largely changed virtually everything. He outlined some of the changes to include the potential to address education, healthcare, prosperity, lifestyle and well-being.
He stressed the need for government to recognise an ‘ecosystem’ in the technology space that is systemic in outlook. adding that in technology, the most intriguing ecosystem is the innovation ecosystem, which he described as a “human network that generates extraordinary creativity and output on a sustainable basis.”
According to Mba-Uzoukwu, “Existence of telecommunication infrastructure, the first precondition to overcome the digital divide; Current economic models for Internet access, place a disproportionate burden on developing countries.”
Speaking about the challenges of the ecosystem, and how to build an ecosystem that could change the narrative, ISPON president said the Institute planned to sensitize the community about the local software industry; provide fora to share software development initiatives; aggressively support the expansion of Nigeria’s human capital, foster co-operation with Nigeria IT in diaspora; and cooperate with other countries to boost global exposure and competitiveness.
He advised the government, industry players and academia, to continue to promote workable policies across multiple dimensions including national security, intellectual property and privacy rights, education, information access and data sovereignty.
Education, for instance, he said, must be harnessed with the national aspirations to the potential of technology for powering the pragmatic development of world-class, innovation cum oriented and entrepreneurial workforce. He emphasized that employment and entrepreneurship must deploy technology in support of the genuine aspirations of Nigerian youth.
“Beginning with the National Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS), we will create and expose opportunities for jobs and wealth creation through personal enterprise,” he declared.
He further said by nurturing innovation, “we must be the advocates and a platform for unleashing creativity and ingenuity of our people, particularly the youth and women whose access to opportunity are hindered.”
Mba-Uzoukwu said in order to achieve the World Summit on the Information Society, there was need for a common vision, desire and commitment to build a people-centric, inclusive and development-oriented information society where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information.
