AREAI partners UK govt to launch SCALE program to drive digital sustainability across Nigeria

AID for Rural Education Access Initiative ( AREAI) has received funding from the United Kingdom government through the Digital Access Program ( DAP) of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office ( FCDO) to implement a multilayered initiative to mitigate the environmental impact of Nigeria's burgeoning technology ecosystem. This will be championed through a series of activities that ranges from evidence generation, knowledge management and mobilisation, incentivized capacity development, media- driven public awareness, and high- level policy advocacy activities. The intervention seeks to align producers, consumers and stakeholders of the technology sector with eco- consciousness, ensuring a greener, more sustainable future for Nigeria 's digital landscape.

This nationwide initiative, under the theme “Smart Climate Awareness, Learning and Empowerment ( SCALE) for Net Zero” program will directly engage information and communications technology ( ICT) companies, digital start- ups, innovation hubs and other key stakeholders in the tech. ecosystem to facilitate their understanding about technology's high negative en vironmental cost, and then mobilise them to collectively commit and act towards reducing their contributions to digital carbon footprint. Through this intervention, ARE Ai will drive a large- scale citizenry engagement strategy, by providing empowerment to key technology hubs located across Abia, Rivers, Lagos, Kaduna and Adamawa states as well as the Federal Capital Territory, . As part of the implementation, the organisation will also be working in collaboration with research institutions, tech startups, government agencies and civil society organisations. More significantly, to mobilize high level stakeholders engagement in fulfilment of the policy regulatory requirements of the initiative, we will be exploring key partnerships with National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, E- waste Producer Responsibility

Organization Nigeria, National Information Technology Development Agency, the Department of Climate Change ( DCC) of the Federal Ministry of Environment, the National Council on Climate Change ( NCCC), the Inter- ministerial Committee on Climate Change ( ICCC) and the Nigerian Energy Transition Plan Office.

Speaking at the media briefing, Gideon Olanrewaju, the Chief Executive Officer of AREAI who also doubles as the Project Manager, buttressed that the SCALE initiative will improve ecoconsciousness and drive responsible digital behaviours in the usage and maintenance of digital tools and internet devices.