The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),has been commended for its ongoing initiative in building Information and Communication Technology (ICT) parks across the six-geo political zones of the country.
The Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who gave the commendation when he visited the site of an ongoing construction of an ICT Park by the commission for the North-Western zone located in Kano State, recently,acknowledged the efforts and commitment of the Danbatta-led NCC in ensuring increased digital access for fast-tracking digital innovation across Nigeria and the North-West in particular, saying the initiative will trigger socio-economic transformation of the area in no distant future.
He said:“Realising that a major project that resonates with the global vision for the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is being vigorously driven by NCC leadership, shows the kind of socio-economic transformation we should expect through ICT across Nigeria in the next few years.
“For the ICT Park being built here in Kano to serve the North-West zone, the government and citizens of Kano State are grateful to Prof. Danbatta and his team for bringing development to the state and the zone at large.”
He also commended the quality of the construction work being undertaken by the NCC on the ICT Park and expressed appreciation for the foresight of the NCC for accommodating an expansion plan at the project site.
The ICT Park in is an initiative of the Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.
The Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) will provide a Commercial Hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills, create employment and entrepreneurial activities and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial Complex.
The ICT Park consists of laboratories for ICT innovations and Commercial Hubs providing capacity building to ICT startups and entrepreneurial activities, in Kano State.
The parks are designed to provide fast internet service (broadband) and constant power supply.
ICT park comprises an area or location with concentration of all ICT facilities, which enables a concerted leap into the digital age by creating a dynamic environment in which local talent is incubated, cultivated, and shared. ICT park is best tested and trusted institutional mechanism to address the needs of technology-intensive, knowledge-based Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The NCC ICT Parks, which are being built across the six geo-political zones of the country, involve the construction and equipping of fully-functional Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) in each of the six geo-political zones of the country.
The ICT Park consist of laboratories for ICT innovations and Commercial Hubs providing capacity building to ICT start-ups and entrepreneurial activities. The Parks are designed to have fast internet service (broadband) and constant power supply.
The digital parks are to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.
The parks will also provide a Commercial Hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills; create employment and entrepreneurial activities; and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial complex.
Speaking on the ICT Parks project Prof Danbatta stated that the project was conceived and designed to support the federal government’s ICT-related policies and programmes by facilitating the availability and accessibility of ICT services across the country, promote their usage across all sectors and ultimately address youth unemployment in the country.
Designed to propel socio-economic transformation in the country, the EVC said the ICT Parks will help build capacity for the teeming population of Nigerian youths in the area of skill acquisition and innovation by complementing existing initiatives geared towards accelerating socio-economic transformation of Nigeria.
“The whole idea of putting these two things (i.e. skill acquisition and innovation) at the forefront of this very important initiative is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for themselves and for other Nigerians,” he said.
Danbatta said based on its national structural spread, no part of the country will be left out as beneficiaries of the initiative. “The NCC ICT Parks Project is another move by the current leadership of the Commission to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the Federal Government,” he said.
He said the parks will support software development, incubation and hardware development. “We also hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the Commission is deepening in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies.”
Danbatta urged the potential and would-be beneficiaries of the project, especially the youths, to be ready to leverage the initiative as it promises to empower them socially and economically.
Meanwhile,the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Judges from across the country converged on Abuja to brainstorm on legal and regulatory issues in the telecommunications industry.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in his welcome address at the 2021 Annual Workshop for Judges, on Wednesday, said the event would equip the Judges with practical insights into emerging issues in the field of telecommunications.
“The aim of this forum is to further build the capacity of our distinguished Judges with practical insights into emerging issues in the field of telecommunications,” he said.
The annual workshop organised by NCC, was conceptualised long ago and has held for 18 consecutive years to bring the judiciary up to speed with emerging issues in telecommunications.
The objective is to enhance the capacity of the judiciary to dispense justice in telecommunications cases from an informed position oriented in appropriate and contemporary knowledge.
Danbatta expressed hope that the workshop would contribute to the development of telecommunications law in Nigeria.
He urged the Judges to freely make contributions and raise issues that would assist the Commission come up with adequate regulatory measures that would enhance development in the Communications sector of the economy.
Declaring the Workshop open, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), and Chairman, Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute (NJI), Justice Tanko Muhammad, assured that the Nigerian Judiciary was committed to the development of telecommunications sector.
Represented by Justice John Okoro, Tanko said that the judiciary would spare no efforts in ensuring transparent and speedy dispensation of justice.
The CJN expressed confidence that the forum would further equip Judicial Officers with the legal and technical skills required for adjudicating disputes in this special area of the law, and in so doing, keep them abreast of global best practices.
