Anthony Nwakaegho/DigitalSENSE Business News
The pledge by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) to partner with the federal government to develop the Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry in Nigeria has received the commendation of the Minister of Communication Technology,
The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson made the commendation during a working visit of the Chairman, President/CEO of the International Business Machines (IBM), Ms Virginia ‘Ginni’ Rometty, to the ministry in Abuja.
Omobola said that IBMs investment in an innovation centre, research funding and training and development of local skills was a welcome development to the Ministry’s continued call for multi-national IT companies to partner with the Ministry to develop a local ICT industry that can take advantage of the tremendous opportunities in the ICT sector.
She called on other multi-nationals to follow the bold steps of IBM and commit to a mutually beneficial partnership arrangements that reflected the volumes of business they were doing in the country.
Speaking, Rometty announced that IBM would establish an innovation centre in Nigeria by the first quarter of 2014 and fund major ICT research projects, thus complementing the efforts of the ministry of Communication Technology’s iDEA incubation centres and other ICT entrepreneurs to make Nigeria an ICT hub for software innovation.
Rometty explained that IBM will be leveraging its extensive ICT curriculum to partner to train thousands of young Nigerians and would in the short to medium term be establishing an Innovation Centre in Nigeria that would complement existing centres in South Africa and Kenya respectively.
"IBM is committed to Nigeria’s ICT development agenda and is poised to partner with the Communications Technology sector on various initiatives and programmes that will impact positively on the economy as IBM continues to invest in key focus areas of technology development in Nigeria and Africa," she said.
Pix: IBM chairman, Ms Virginia ‘Ginni’ Rometty
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