Nigerian Communications Commission evaluates tech start-ups
The Nigerian Communications Commission has revealed that it has commenced visitation to various technology startups across the six geopolitical zones, toward boosting innovative local contents.
The Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, made this known during a forum on Emerging Technologies Research and ICT Innovation. He stressed that the drive was in the commission’s effort to encourage technology entrepreneurship and innovation in the ICT sector.
The forum which was organized by the commission is themed “Developing Nigeria’s Tech Eco-System: Imperative for improving Local Content”.
Danbatta noted that the visitation was to assess the development and challenges of the technology startups. He added that the commission intends to assist the various tech hubs with the right regulatory intervention to ease their operations.
Quoting the executive vice chairman:
“It is a fact that finding local solutions to the challenges of the industry is a key policy of the present administration”.
“We acknowledged that University of Lagos has been one of the prominent tertiary institutions at the forefront of technology innovation, not only in Lagos State but in the country.
“Lagos State in itself has been the ‘Centre of Excellence’ in Nigeria and has the largest concentration of technology hub ecosystem in Africa.”
Danbatta said that the ICT Innovation Forum became necessary to promote local content with emphasis on tech ecosystem, identifying unmet needs and facilitate Public Private Partnership (PPP).
According to him; with the growing pressure of globalization, every government, as well as captains of industries, is charged with the burden of finding ways to ensure competitive and capable local content.
The executive vice chairman noted that it was imperative that the right framework was developed to enhance the ability of indigenous companies to maximally explore and exploit local opportunities, as well as remain globally competitive.
He further explained that Mobile Network Operators have developed infrastructure to support voice services and access to data.
