Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Ekuwem to preside @ Nigeria Internet Governance forum

The former president of the Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) and the Executive Vice Chairman, Teledom Group International, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem would preside over the 2011 edition of the Nigeria Digital Sense Forum taking place between Thursday 24 and Friday 25 March, 2011 at the Golden Gate Paradise, Ikoyi-Lagos, on ‘Internet Governance and Broadband Evolution in Nigeria’.

The Nigeria Digital Sense forum is an annual assembly of the Nigerian Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with particular reference to the Internet community, offering them a platform to deliberate on how the Internet is governed and its developmental impact to the country as well as contributing to the global Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

The annual forum is organized in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and endorsed by the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), ICANN, Nigeria Internet Exchange Point Ltd, Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Joint Action Committee on ICT Awareness and Development (JACITAD) to name a few.

Disclosing the acceptance of Dr. Ekuwem who was until recently the National President of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the Executive Director, DSA, the organizers of the forum, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, said it was an exciting piece of news.

She noted that Ekuwem who is reputed for his doggedness during the nation’s country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) controversy would be chairing the Nigeria Digital Sense forum on Internet Governance.

Ekuwem, she said, would use the platform to share critical information from his experiences in moving the ICT industry forward and specifically the .ng domains.

Mrs. Nweke also said that the two-day event has been strategically structured to boost participation of individuals and corporate, especially those offering Internet services that are looking for a meeting point with the ever increasing Internet savvy population in the country.

DigitalSense forum, she said, has become an innovative platform of taking internet offerings and services nearer to the populace.

This, she said, is crucial now that most mobile subscribers have internet embedded on their phones for easy and fast communication.

Promising that the 2011 edition would surpass the previous years, she promised of frequent updates in the coming days as DSA plans to hold the event in both plenary and working-group sessions.

In his reacting on his choice as the chairman of the Nigeria Digital Sense Forum, Ekuwem noted that he has accepted the position due to the importance of the subject, which theme would be on ‘Internet Governance and Broadband Evolution in Nigeria’.

According to him, the passion he has for the Internet development has been of tremendous strength to move ahead and with the broadband evolution expected with the landing of two privately-owned submarine cables, a lot is expected in the market in Nigeria.

He commended the organizers, DSA to keep up the good work in pushing Internet awareness in the country, just as he assured that Teledom Group International and its subsidiaries have sufficient reasons to associate themselves with the Nigeria Digital Sense Forum, especially as a technology company.

It would be recalled that last year, DSA was well represented at the West Africa Internet Governance Forum in Senegal, with its Communiqué forming most position of Nigeria at the event, while the global Internet Governance Forum holding in Vilnius, Lithuania between September 14 and 17, 2010.

The chief executive, Teledom Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, has won several professional and international prizes including NTA Man of the Year 2010, Albert Einstein’s Centenary award of excellence by the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ile-Ife.
Additionally, Dr. Ekuwem, has won the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) in 2003 amidst other awards.


... Making sense out of digital revolution!