Microsoft Nigeria
has reaffirmed the company’s commitment to partner with the Federal Government and
other stakeholders in the industry to put structure and further aid ICT for development.
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| L-R: Bayo Ifebajo, Business Development Manager, Prime Atlantic, Nwogbo Baret, COO, Ste-ben Int transport Inc, Ngozi Aghomi, Supply Chain Manager, Nestle, Olayinka Oni, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Nigeria and Guest Speaker, Stella Uche-Agu, Team Lead, Commercial Banking Group, Access Bank and Oghenovo Pepe Afilaka during the Lagos Business School Executive MBA Class which held on Saturday. |
National
Technology Officer, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Mr. Olayinka Oni told DigitalSENSE Business News at the
Lagos Business School where he addressed the Executive MBA class as a guest speaker,
entitled ‘Nigeria in the Information Age: The role and capacity of Government.’
Oni said that
for Africa to improve its economic and global competitiveness, it is pertinent to
place ICT at the nerve centre of its activities, citing an instance that in advanced
countries they enjoy their present status because of their technological
advancement, hence he commended the strides taken by the present administration
in advancing ICT, one of which is the inauguration of the Broadband Council to
drive the implementation of the recently-approved National Broadband Plan
2013-2018 by the Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson.
Another noteworthy
effort of the ministry, he said, was the funding of Incubation Centres created
solely to foster innovation and the development of locally relevant apps by
people with great ideas but without the wherewithal to execute.
Microsoft, he
said, has over the years explored various ways at developing innovative
products and services to improve the way Africans communicate at work, at home
and on the go.
Adding that the most
recent being the generation of novel
ideas which includes the 4Afrika initiative designed to empower African youth,
entrepreneurs, developers, businesses and civic leaders to turn great ideas
into a reality that can help their community, their country, the Continent, and
beyond.
“Under the
initiative, Microsoft will help place tens of millions of smart devices in the
hands of young Africans, bring one million SMEs online by providing high-speed
broadband using Super Wi-Fi technology, up-skill 100,000 members of Africa’s
existing workforce, and help an additional 100,000 recent graduates develop
skills for employability, 75 percent of which Microsoft will help place in jobs”,
added Oni.
Explaining that
cloud computing has the potential to transform the region, Olayinka noted that
it enables global growth for businesses in emerging markets who are seeking to
engage world markets in spite of lack of traditional infrastructure.
Concluding, Oni
spoke about Microsoft’s recently launched initiative, CityNext, an initiative
that Microsoft and her global partner ecosystem are
uniquely positioned to enable a people-first approach through their end-to-end
software, devices and services capabilities that meet a range of needs from the
consumer-related demands of citizens to the mission-critical, enterprise
demands of city operations.
“No other company offers the
broad portfolio of familiar, secure software, devices and services; the
experienced network of hundreds of thousands of partners worldwide with
relationships in nearly every major city around the globe; and the history of
successful education and training programs, which collectively, propel cities
toward what’s next” he said.
Earlier, in her
welcome address, Faculty Director and IS Faculty, Lagos Business School, Dr.
Olayinka David-West said, “the role of Government in the development of an IT-enabled
environment is integral to private sectors adoption of IT". She also
emphasised that "the environment in which we operate and the strategies we
want to adopt can either be aided or hindered by Government's participation.”.
The Executive
MBA (EMBA) class is made up of working professionals, with more than 7 years of
experience working in different business sectors. The EMBA are management
practitioners seeking to improve their managerial practices and leadership
skills.
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