…Accelerex, H+K Strategies, Zinox Support Event
The ICT media, today in Lagos, set seven-point agenda for the federal government to pursue in other to achieve its digital economic growth goals.
The agencies in the ICT industry include the federal ministry of communications technology and digital economy, National Information Technology Agency (NITDA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Galaxy Backbone, NigComSat, Digital Bridge Institute, and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
The journalists, under the umbrella of the Nigerian Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA), set the agenda at the first workshop organised by NITDA, for ICT journalists in Lagos. The five-day event, which has about 40 ICT media houses attending kicked off today, in Lagos.
The agenda was articulated by four groups of the ICT media tasked by the organisers to identify key areas that the federal government through its agencies should focus on to achieve its digital economy goals set up under President Mohammadu Buhari’s government.
Some of the key areas, the four groups harped on include, providing access, tool, and infrastructure for the underserved and unserved sectors of the economy for proper economic activity linkages, provision of platforms and technology for telemedicine, provision of adequate power, a key factor for optimizing deployment, activation, and use of digital tools, applications, and facilities.
Other areas the media players emphasised include, pricing to make access affordable, the creation of hotspots in various public spaces across the six geopolitical zones, and the provision of ubiquitous broadband in an accelerated manner. They also spoke on enabling the deployment of digital tools for educational activities, especially in the country’s secondary and tertiary institutions.
Also, some companies in the ICT industry have indicated interest to align with the NITDA project that promises to infuse more drive into ICT reporting in the country.
Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a marketing communications firm; Global Accelerex, a financial technology company, and Zinox Group have pledged their support for the training, which they acknowledge is very critical in the media industry, especially as ICT evolves.
The 5-day Capacity Building Training, which is at the behest of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), with full support from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, is meant to equip ICT journalists with the requisite skills to effectively report the fast-evolving trends in the global ICT field.
According to the Chairman of NITRA, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, the training which forms part of his administration’s empowerment promises, will enable NITRA members to further sharpen their skills and be well-equipped to deliver in reporting new technologies such as AI, machine learning, Cloud deployment, Fintech, among others.
NITDA’s intervention is part of the implementation of the Agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024) which is also in line with the application of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS). The policy document promotes the use of digital technology to expand and diversify Nigeria’s economy, especially as it pertains to employing digital literacy and skills strategy.
The training will among other areas cover Digital Literacy, Emerging Technologies, Cybersecurity, and journalism as a social engineering tool.
