As part of its contribution to the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the country, Digital Jewels has held the 43rd edition of its monthly Information Value Chain (IVC) Breakfast Forum titled “Enabling Internet Ubiquity in Nigeria”.
The session which had experienced ICT professionals in attendance addressed key enablers and inhibitors for unleashing internet accessibility on a mass scale; and highlighted inherent opportunities and accompanying threats to internet penetration in the country.
In her presentation titled “Enabling Internet Ubiquity in Nigeria: Our vision, accomplishments and Challenges”, Funke Opeke, the Managing Director/CEO of Main One Cable Company who was the guest speaker, said for internet service to be prevalent, it must be affordable, accessible, reliable, sustainable and available in every facet of life including education, government, commerce, media and entertainment, as well as healthcare services.
Opeke said: “While some of the key building blocks to drive ubiquity exist, more work is required to cut through national challenges to deliver widely accessible, always on and affordable Internet services to the people of Nigeria.” She explained that internet availability was achievable but noted that the growth would slowly spread from the cities to the rural areas, due to limited infrastructure. She explained that the spread could be fast- tracked by direct government interventions, to support private sector investments.
Adedoyin Odunfa, Digital Jewels MD/CEO, in her presentation titled “Internet Ubiquity: Enablers, Inhibitors, Opportunities & Threats” identified Internet ubiquity as a change catalyst that enables efficiency, convenience, innovation, collaboration, globalisation, customisation, accountability, transparency and business ubiquity. She listed other benefits as including increased velocity of money, instant gratification, elimination of redundancy, cashless society, reduced time to market, global sales channel, cost reduction, wider choices and E-inclusion among other opportunities.
Odunfa said while access to internet in the country had been on the increase, Nigeria was still far from achieving ubiquity, as the nation was missing among the first ten ranked countries in Africa and came a distant fourth behind Cape Verde, Coute d’ Ivoire and Ghana on E-government development in West Africa, according to the 2010 United Nation e-government survey.
She expressed concern over the increasing security threats being faced by government establishments and private businesses, with the hacking of their websites, the attendant embarrassment and loss of investment. She observed that security was critical to internet ubiquity.
Digital Jewels is a specialised Information Technology company that focuses on Information Systems, Information Assurance, Information Risk Management and Information Security, e-Business and Knowledge Capital Development. The company organises the Information Value Chain Breakfast Forums which holds on the second Wednesday of every month and provides a platform for knowledge sharing, information exchange and networking for executives, as they climb the corporate ladder with increasingly challenges to keep up with pertinent trends, but increasingly important not to lose sight of issues which can affect their individual and corporate competitiveness. The forums feature a carefully selected mix of consultants, practitioners and industry thought leaders with a carefully targeted audience consisting of a cross section of industry-shapers for today and tomorrow.
