Experts at the American Business Council (ABC) forum have advocated total digitalisation by equipping Nigerians with the requisite digital capabilities to bridge the digital divide in the country.
The Council gave the advice at the 2nd ABC Economic Update, themed: “Multi-Sectoral Impact of Emerging Technologies and Best Options for Their Adoption,” in Lagos.
A Professor, Information Systems, Lagos Business School, Mrs Olayinka West, said digital capacity is important, especially seeing how the COVID-19 pandemic pushed many businesses and organisations to become technology dependent.
According to her, Nigerians need not wait for another global external event to jolt them into accepting emerging and dynamically evolving technologies in the country.
West argued that to achieve technological inclusiveness, efforts must begin from the grassroots level and then scale up, reaching the nooks and crannies of the country.
She, however, stressed the need to innovate by building data and technological products for the Nigeria of today, and in view of the projected population increase by 2050, to reap the transformational benefits of digital technology.
She explained this could be achieved by producing more multilingual technology products to accommodate the various rich language dynamics in the country.
She said: “We can harness our human resources to a digital Nigeria to reap the big macroeconomic benefits, which the country has to offer. Tech can be a main source of foreign exchange as opposed to leaning on just oil for that.
“There’s however the need to take technology education to the grassroots, ensure data affordability for small businesses and then invest in requisite infrastructure to address cyber insecurities.
“Collectively, we can do more with technology for a more nourished ecosystem across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.”
Adequate data
Vice President, Financial Market, AFEX, Mrs Oluwafunto Olasemo, noted that the country as an agrarian society had about five per cent as funding to the agricultural sector, and was without adequate data to drive agricultural information science.
Olasemo stressed that investments in agriculture technology was crucial to enable the country to generate more viable foreign exchange from exports of agricultural products.
She noted that the place of commodities as alternative assets for the country was crucial. “Government needs to channel the right policies to get to the grassroots to reap the benefits of shared prosperity if data of the sector is properly documented.”
There’s however the need to take technology education to the grassroots, ensure data affordability for small businesses and then invest in requisite infrastructure to address cyber insecurities.
Chief Regulatory and Government Relations Officer, Flutterwave, Oluwabankole Falade, said the company is committed to providing data privacy programme around General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and localise the same to the Nigerian context.
He said the company will continue to mandatorily train staff on data safety and engage firms to audit and hack its systems to test its vulnerabilities and address them.
“Customers also have a role to play and we ensure that they are educated on basic data security infrastructure to ensure that their information are not compromised,” he said.
Also speaking, Digital Architect Manager, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr Falilat Jimoh, said the agency is determined to build a flourishing digital landscape to reap the benefits of technology.
She stressed the need for multi-sectoral collaboration for a seamless ecosystem to derive more values against drowning in the wave of digital disruptions.
“NITDA has its own strategic document roadmap which harps on the need for digital inclusion to accommodate those selling even plantain on the streets.
“We want a Nigeria where everyone irrespective of who you are, where you are, the language you speak; ethnicity can derive value from technology.
“This requires innovation to enable maximum participation at the grassroots level and also requires behavioural change and trust on the part of the people to drive the inclusiveness to success,” she said. (NAN)
