‘CIOs Will Drive Nigeria’s Digital Economy’

‘CIOs Will Drive Nigeria’s Digital Economy’

Emma Okonji

The Chief Executive Officer of Edniesal Consulting, Mrs. Biola Laseinde has stressed the need for more motivations for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in the various organisation as they hold the key to the country’s digital economy. According to her, efforts being put in place by the CIOs at their various organisations will lead to the expected digital transformation in the nation’s economy.

Speaking at the 2nd CIO awards held in Lagos recently, where top innovators from different sectors of the economy were honoured, Laseinde said the CIOs were the ones interpreting all the complexities that have now become associated with being digitally minded. “Unfortunately, these guys are hardly recognised. They are hardly remembered because they are always busy somewhere, trying to make our world more comfortable, easier for us to live our lives daily and harness all the goodness and benefits of technology,” she noted.

On the process leading to the awards, she disclosed that Edniesal Consulting invested a lot into the evaluation process. According to her, the winners emerged from a very rigorous exercise assessment exercise for which we are privileged to have PwC supervised. “We have a 20-man jury panel, by the way, from all over Africa. So it’s very subjective. It’s very independent.”

While noting that the objective of the CIO Awards is to recognise and celebrate the outstanding work by CIOs, CTOs, CDOs, and other leaders in the Information Technology ecosystem across various business sectors of the economy, she said the recognition would encourage them to go the extra mile in implementing innovations, which would, in turn, drive the digital economy.

At the awards ceremony, CIOs from eight different sectors were honoured for driving innovations at their respective organisations. These include Adewale Salami of First Bank of Nigeria, for the banking sector, Olakunle Ogedengbe from British American Tobacco Company for t the FMCG; Randy Bikray of MTN for the telecoms sector; and Babfemi Ogungbamila of Interswitch for the Fintech sector.

Others include Sola Olufosoye of FMDQ for Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) and Abraham Osadenoi of Federal Inland Revenue Service (FRIS) for MDAs.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman of the Jury, Mr. Ade Bajomo, said the winners emerged after a rigorous process involving all the members of the Jury. According to him, the award would not only ensure that the CIOs in the country come up with more innovative ideas but would also launch the country into the 4th Industrial Revolution.

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