NCC urges SMEs, innovators to participate

International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Telecom World, Local Organizing Committee (LOC) has enjoined Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and innovators to take active part in this year’s ITU conference.
The ITU Telecom World which holds in Durban, South Africa from September 10-13 will give prominence to SMEs, innovators and their innovations given their role as critical drivers for economic growth in Nigeria.
According to a statement by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) director of public affairs Tony Ojobo Nigeria had a “superlative outing in ITU Telecom World 2017, Busan, South Korea, when five of the country’s SMEs/Innovators made the final ITU Global listing for SMEs/Innovators awards. Three of them made the honours list,” he said.
He added that “The LOC said that for SMEs/Innovators to be selected, “their tech-enabled solution must be creative, innovative, and globally relevant.
“Such products/services must provide demonstrable impact or radical improvement in service delivery or processes to a specific area such as agriculture, education, health, governance, security” among others.
Innovations must also be unique, scalable and patented with a model to showcase.
2018 ITU Telecom World theme is “Innovation for Smarter Digital Development.”
Ojobo reiterated that ITU Telecom World 2018 is an election year and Nigeria is vying for two positions: ITU Administrative Council and Director, in charge of Bureau for Telecommunications Development (BDT) for which Mr. Williams Ijeh is a candidate.
“In April this year, Chief Regulator and Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta flagged off Nigeria’s campaign for the two positions, when he hosted a dinner for high profile ITU personalities including Secretary General, Mr. Houlin Zhao, officials of the global regulatory Agencies, Ministers, Regulators and global dignitaries in Geneva, Switzerland,” he added.
Nigeria’s delegation to this year’s event will be led by Minister of Communications Dr. Abdulraheem Adebayo Shittu, Chairman, NCC Board, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, the EVC NCC, Prof. Danbatta, including stakeholders/players, operators, Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), among others.