Experts Call for Increased Investment in Digital Infrastructure
Information Technology (IT) professionals, under aegis of Computer Professional Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN), have stressed the need for improved investments in digital infrastructure in the public and private sector business.
They were of the view that investing in digital infrastructure, remained one of the fastest ways to transform Nigeria’s economy, adding that the development of such infrastructure is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The IT professionals made he call at the just concluded CPN organised IT Assembly, held in Abuja.
Former Group Managing Director/CEO, Zenith Bank Plc, Mr. Peter Amangbo, in his keynote address, stressed the need for improved investments in digital infrastructure, as a means to get the country positioned for the fourth industrial revolution that is knowledge-based.
Amangbo, who was represented by the Executive Director, Zenith Bank Plc., Mr. Umar Ahmed, said the new era would witness shifts of monumental proportion, enabled by the convergence of the physical environment and digital space, and driven by ubiquitous connectivity, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, robotics, and cloud computing, combining to enable the Internet of Things (IoTs).
According to Amangbo, “It may not be heavily prevalent in our local environment currently, but this wind of change is intensifying. It will bring massive disruptions to the traditional ways we have been doing things.
“Making the appropriate investments and adjustments is key to our relevance in the global economy of the future. One major area to invest is in digital infrastructure both at the public and enterprise levels.
“The enabling environment for entrepreneurship and development of start-ups should also be created through progressive regulation of sector players.”
The President of Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Professor Adesola Aderounmu, also aligned his thoughts with the keynote speaker, explaining that the IT sector has kept its trajectory of organic evolution and revolution going forward in Nigeria and the entire word because it is a unique industry where change, innovation and transformation are constant phenomena shaping the present and defining the future.
Aderounmu reminded the professionals that technology trend were relentlessly evolving at the speed of the future, such that they must all keep up with the trends or risk missing the train.
“So, it is instructive that the
The Chief Executive Officer of Kurecoinhub, Mr. Tega Abikure, an expert in Blockchain and digital currency, has advised the federal government and governments of African countries to consider the adoption of Bitcoin as a currency for storage of national reserves.
According to him, “Cryptocurrencies are changing the face of the global financial world and bitcoin is at the forefront of this. African countries can benefit from its acceptance and value-addition by keeping some foreign reserves in the currency. If adopted, this can help to improve the finances of African countries.”
Abikure who spoke with journalist in Lagos on the benefits of digital currency like Bitcoin, said there was need to consider a switch to bitcoin as a currency for foreign reserves in view of its global acceptance as a legal tender and also its persistent trade by individual and global corporate bodies.
Abikure, whose firm has launched what has been acknowledged as Africa’s largest Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Project, chided African governments for adopting a sit-and-look posture on cryptocurrency adoption and regulation, at a period when many other countries outside were going ahead to develop a robust cryptocurrency system.
According to him, Africa always tends to be late in adoption of global technologies and systems, adding that the adoption of cryptocurrencies is another area the continent is lagging behind.
He said: “People and nations all over the world are taking this seriously, building viable projects and infrastructures around bitcoin to safeguard their future and that of the nations. But in Africa it seems we are the ones on the far side of major adoption.
“We are waiting for others to finish eating up the good stuffs and leaving for us scrums to live on. We just need to understand that Bitcoin, kurecoin and other highly valued cryptocurrenecies are here to stay and we can only become major stakeholders in this new reality if we can start taking decisive steps now.”
Abikure urged industry leaders on the continent to learn from the countries that were taking decisive steps to secure the future of their nations by taking cryptocurrenices seriously.
He identified some countries such as United States of America, Estonia, China and South Korea as nations that African countries should emulate.
The finance expert also noted that USA had become a global reference point on cryptocurrency regulation and virtually all other nations were looking up to USA to provide directions for others to follow.
He also said South Korea remained a regular host of Bitcoin conferences and has provided a friendly climate for the local Bitcoin community as a way of becoming a global leader in cryptocurrencies