Stories by Etta Michael Bisong
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) recently inaugurated a local organising committee (LOC) to ensure that Nigeria have a good outing during the 2014 edition of GITEX Technology week coming up in Dubai, United Arab Emirate later in the year.
Director-General of the agency, Mr. Peter Jack, who inaugurated the committee revealed that it is primarily saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that Nigeria’s investment potentials are exposed to the global IT community during this year’s event.
While urging the members to serve as good ambassadors during the annual event, Mr. Jack said the committee should explore multi stakeholders’ strategic partnership to achieve the objective of the exercise.
‘‘If we do our homework and begin to deliver, working together and create synergy in service delivery; then it means we can go to international committee and say we are ready to engage them because we have done our homework, he said.
The NITDA’s helmsman vehemently assured that Nigeria has the capacity, and great potential that would be exposed to the international technology investing community during the 2014 GITEX Technology week. ‘’So what am saying is that we need to go to events like GITEX to inform investors of what we are capable of doing.’’
He added that Nigeria would also unveil the potentials of the Lagos Innovation City to investors during the celebration and explores multi stakeholders’ partnership strategy to attract investors on the project.
He tasked the committee to jettison the idea of operating as umbrella bodies rather form a common front to move the industry forward.
‘’While I was in Lagos, I promised to establish IT Industry Advisory Council that will be made up of the players well represented; not two or three because we are umbrella,’’ he said. ‘’We will work closely in every area because no hardware can work without software and no software can work without hardware. ‘’
Mr. Jack acknowledged that information technology has the potential of turning around the country’s economy with the case of the Asian Tigers, especially South Korea which adopted the National recover strategy focusing on IT as core economic sector as well as the driver across sector for national growth.
‘’We are going to adopt a multi stakeholders’ partnership strategy to identify investment opportunities not only in IT sector but across sector because IT is pervasive. We are sitting on gold mine that has the potential to surpass oil and gas for our national income,’’ he said.
The Gitex Technology is the premier technology event in MEASA and occupies over 78,000 sqm of space, and records over 139,530 trade visitors from 144 countries. More than 35,000 visitors came from Africa in the 2013 edition of GITEX where Nigeria premiered its presence by setting up the Nigerian Pavilion which was promoted by the Nigerian Government through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
This year, Nigeria hopes to further leverage on the global exposure presented by the GITEX to spotlight its local software industry and other sub IT sectors by occupying the centre of activities at the five day event as GITEX Official Country Partner. Reputed as a tradeshow that brings global IT businesses together, being a GITEX Official Country Partner would among others enable Nigeria to increase its brand presence on a global scale where more than 140,000 trade visitors will understand what Nigeria have to offer; allow the country leverage from the GITEX global marketing and PR campaign worth over USD 37 million and also break down the perception of the risks associated with working in Nigeria’s flourishing but often misrepresented technology sector.
