Operators’ strategies and SIM cards registration

As concern over the need to register individual’s Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) card in the on-going exercise, continues, REMMY NWEKE reports that various telecom operators are diversing separate strategies to ensure its success, including going to big corporate entities and worship centers.

Following the introduction of the registration of Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) cards in the country, subscribers and operators are now keen in making certain that they are part of the exercise.

From the churches, mosques and even markets have now turned to venues for SIM registration across the country.

Apparently, in line with the public notice of the telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the operators and subscribers alike are now enthusiastic to engage in the act of SIM cards registration.

Part of the notice stipulated that with the commencement of registration of SIM cards, new SIMs must not be activated until the subscriber is duly registered, while those already existing would have a limited period within which to get their SIM cards registered or face some sanctions of being denied access to their lines to a given extent, which may include turning their lines into a receiver only, with the likelihood of reaching a cut-off, if the user is adamant to a certain period.

“All SIM-based telephone subscribers are required to register their personal data as well as biometrics; finger prints and facial photographs, before they can be allowed to make calls and/or send messages,” NCC warned through its Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Dave Imoko, recently.

Investigations carried out by ITRealms Online since the commencement of the exercise on May 1, indicated that telecom operators, mostly those on mobile platforms have introduced various strategies to achieve this, in spite of the six months deadline marshaled out by the House Committee on Communications to complete the registration of over 78 million SIM cards in circulation as at July, 2010.

This means that by end of October 2010, an estimated 78 million should have been registered. This development came as some Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts argued that it is not visible, maintaining that even if all the operators have to register a total record of 1m per week, it could still not be viable.

Noticeable now is that when a new SIM is inserted into a new mobile phone, a prompt is seen demanding that such a SIM card be registered.

According to the president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Titi Omo-Ettu, based on the aforementioned mathematics of registering at least 1m per week, it means that the registration of 78m subscribers will be completed in approximated 19.5 months; equals to about a year and seven months to accomplish.

He urged telecom consumers in the country to ensure they register their SIMs and called on NCC to adhere to the directive given by the House Committee on Communications, that six months is enough for the exercise.

The intervention of the Green chambers of the legislature by way of proposing a parliamentary Bill on SIM registration, he said, is a welcome development, stressing that ATCON, as an interested party made input too. “We have already made contribution to the draft,” he said, but insisted that the campaign for SIM registration was started by ATCON members’ who are already making efforts to ensure its success.

ATCON also wants NCC to engage Nigerians on the public enlightenment campaign, saying that it’s only NCC that could persuade subscribers in the country to adhere to SIM registration which is ongoing.

They noted that the campaign should not be left alone to the telecom operators, because Nigerians would perceive it as another means of ‘milking’ them, moreso, given the rise in kidnapping, which most people said is induced by the advent of the Global System for Mobile communications.

For the chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, the registration of SIM cards of such magnitude entails huge investment, thus the operators are demanding logistic support from the government, especially the industry regulator.

He stressed that even if nothing else, the exercise is of utmost important to aid security agencies in curbing crimes in the country.

Although the NCC said it was considering some of kind of support, it has mandate the operators to set up machineries in place to accomplish this exercise, without outlining the kind of support it would offer them in return yet.

But, based on the workings of the government and its agencies, the cost of engaging some staff for this purpose and procurement of equipment could be absorbed eventually, but for when remain unknown, especially with the slowness in engaging stakeholders by the latest leadership of apex telecom regulator in the country is unassuming.

ITRealms Online discovered that the operators are now engaging dealers in order to extend the exercise to the crannies by taking actions to big corporate organisations and churches with good number of staff and members, especially those who may not have the opportunity to visit customer care centres for the exercise, with some centres located at popular bus-stops like Oshodi-underbridge in Lagos.

Operators, it was revealed have appointed series of partners to drive this exercise down to subscribers and near too. This the dealer do by engaging temporary staff to ensure that this exercise is a success.

For instance, at St. Jude’s Catholic parish, Mafoluku-Oshodi in Lagos, recently, staff of telco’s dealers, especially from Apple Tree mounted two tables at the two entrance gates of the church during most masses in order to register MTN subscribers who lined up for the exercise en-masse. Though they claim to have the mandate of other operators as well, but of particular reference were made for MTN customers, even as they used MTN’s branded tables and plastic chairs, for about two Sun days, the team visited the church.

The two operators of the Digital Data Capturing machines allocated to the parish for the Sunday-Sunday registration options who identified themselves as Messrs Kayode and Yomi, confirmed that they were from Apple Tree Nigeria Limited and have been around since the second mass which ended at about 8.30am and would usually stay through to the last mass, which ended at about 1pm, while the exercise lasted at the church compound.

They also said that the exercise went well as the turn-out have been encouraging, while members of the church trooped to these two centres after each mass session to register their SIMs. Confirming their engagement by some operators, mostly MTN, a lady who described herself as the Managing Director, Apple Tree, who refused her name in prints, said they have staff well equipped to do the registration across networks.

She explained that corporate organisations as well as churches and mosques, since the exercise started invite them to occasionally enable their members to register their SIM cards.

The AppleTree lady also said her company and employees were empowered to register across the networks, namely MTN, Zain, Etisalat, and Glo, to name a few.

ITRealms Online recalls that soon after the commencement of SIM card registration, confusion crept in based on the kind of questions asked by various operators via their dealers are yet to be cohesively structured. Even as it was initially gathered that some touts took advantage of lack of awareness on the SIM registration to charge unassuming telecom subscribers between N50 and N500, collecting two passport photos and filling of manual forms with the intention to register them later.

In particular, the operators were discovered to be missing a key question for tracking individuals as they stopped at asking for local government areas without home towns, or place of birth, just as it was gathered that most communities are very far away from their local government headquarters.

Further investigations revealed that at MTN Friendship centres, there are usually two personnel manning each box and capturing data both manually and electronically via filling of form which contains phone lines from the network, alternative phone line, full names, next of kin and phone line, date of birth, local government area, state of origin, residential address, ID, photo capture and two fingers’ biometric scan from each hand in addition to a free gift for those who complete their registration successfully.

Except for the manual recording, Zain also insisted in showing of SIM cards by customers, while Etisalat accepts registration on proxy by spouse only, even as the number kept rising of subscribers who register their SIMs. At Glo World, it was more of an ‘academic exercise’ with all your fingers scanned, mothers’ maiden name, average income per month, average airtime usage per month, office and residential addresses, religion, preferred language, concluding with webcam photo capture.

Equally, experts have warned telecom consumers over the use of touts for registration, saying that anybody without the registration box is ‘fake’.

While telecom consumers are enjoined to key into the exercise, industry observers urged operators to beef-up their commitment to the consumers by taking the exercise further nearer to them across the networks, which is currently being done by MTN, according to our investigations.

This, the predicted could be of help to the operators because most of their subscribers may not eventually be affected when the deadline is presumably reached, therefore sustaining their investment.

Industry observers equally pointed out that if in the long run subscribers are cut off a network, they could be forced to migrate to another network, at which time they would now be literally forced to register before acquiring the new lines.

And for them, most importantly is that the government through the NCC may decide to share or provide incentives for the operators based on their financial and logistic commitment to the exercise, which may not favour those who are foot-dragging at the movement.

Until then, ask yourself, neighbours and relatives if they have registered their SIMs and encourage them to do so, today, especially those at the rural areas.
So, to be forewarned, is to be forearmed.
 
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Entrepreneurship:‘Knowledge economy, perfect for 21st century’

The chief executive officer of e-Books Library, Mr. Walter Kny, has identified knowledge economy as a perfect setting for the 21st century entrepreneurs, just as he tasked Nigerians to dream dreams, noting that the likes of Facebook could have been created by a Nigerian.

He stated this at a one-day seminar tagged the Spirit of the True Nigerian Entrepreneur (SoTNE) at the Abuja International Conference Centre, with the theme ‘Creating Wealth with integrity in 21st Century’ as part of the Computerize Nigeria Project (CNP) contribution to Nigeria at 50 independence celebration.

He urged Nigerians to engage their minds beginning with dreaming which is freely given by the creator of the world.

“Dreaming is for free, so dream,” he declared, saying that the possibility of potential entrepreneurs starts with the engagement of the mind by thinking.

Mr. Kny, who dwelt on ‘Entrepreneurship 101 and opportunities for Nigerians in the knowledge economy,’ said that ideas must be simple, stressing that any idea that cannot be written down in a sentence may not be feasible.

He cited the instance with Facebook, saying that it could have been created by a Nigerian, stressing that Facebook was not just an innovation but a social entrepreneurial intervention.

“Facebook was not a technological breakthrough and the same are Twitter, Yahoo, Funband, among others,” he said, warning that these social enterprise are not locally driven but global.

He noted that all the aforementioned social entrepreneurial interventions are within the top 15 most visited websites in Nigeria.

Pointing out that an budding entrepreneur to be different, he or she must be strategic in nurturing the enterprise, stressing that self discipline is a pre-requisite in business.

“Discipline helps you to move and there is no silly idea,” he said, insisting that those born into the 21st century are very fortunate and are all born equally based on the nomenclature of the Internet, saying that all the people of this century requires is their brain.

He described intellectual capital as a sea of possibilities, beginning with the information available to an individual, especially the intellectual capabilities that one can turn into money.

“Everybody has intellectual capital,” he asserted, stressing that the top 20 knowledge countries made up 60 per cent of the world’s wealth with high-tech industries representing 50 per cent of their wealth.

Knowledge workers in the United States, he said, earn over 200 per cent of the unskilled one.

Mr. Kny said that most knowledge countries are making good use of their population, maintaining that more knowledge equals to more money.

“Why most of the entrepreneurship succeed is because they took actions,” he said,
He defined entrepreneurs as those extra-ordinary people who do extra-ordinary things, advising anybody who has a dream and the courage to go for it.

According to him, entrepreneurs must be change agents, pointing out that the first 100 per cent of the top 100 richest persons in the United States are self-starter entrepreneurs.

On the startup success rates, Mr. Kny said, “18 per cent first time startup are successful, 30 per cent second times startups are successful.

Further, he outlined some of the factors why most entrepreneurs fail, attributing this to lack of character, indiscipline, separating self from business, not knowing what they want, non-resilience, extravagant and bad management.

Kny advised that when a startup begins to grow, it is important to the owner cum entrepreneur to bring-in a management team to sustain that dream

“You must hire management team before you need them,” he said, stressing that it takes between two and three years for any startup t make money, noting that for every entrepreneur, everything is an opportunity.

Additionally, he said that why most entrepreneurs fail is because of poor fundamentals, leadership gap, lack of capital, planning, vision gap as well as lack of flexibility, which makes such enterprise obsessed with their dreams.

He maintained that entrepreneurs must diverse within their area of strength in order to make their economic power stronger.

“Once a while stop to ask if you are to start anew your business, would you take the same route,” he counseled, adding that entrepreneurs should not under-estimate their competitors, even as God always find a way to talk to man on earth.

Mr. Kny drew-up five keys to success which comprised of the fact that entrepreneurs must learn how to handle frustration, reject incoherent ideas, learn how to handle financial pressures, complacency and eventually ensure that they give back more than they expect to receive to the society where they operate.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Emeagwali says democracy without technology is void

Nigerian-born digital giant, Dr. Phillip Emeagwali has predicted that technology would enable the entrenchment of press and democracy on the continent of Africa, saying that democracy without technology is void.

Emeagwali bared his mind in Paris, while presenting a paper on Nigeria’s 50 independence anniversary recently.

He noted that the late Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana once said “Socialism without science is void,” but for at this era, “Democracy without technology is void.”

According to him, a scientist could be famous yet remain unknown, stressing that the grand challenge for scientists is to focus on discoveries that reduce poverty rather than on winning prizes.

“To focus on the prizes we have won, instead of the discoveries we have made, would be akin to dwelling on a hero’s medal and ignoring his heroism,” he said.

Emeagwali also said that discoveries and inventions that increase wealth and reduce poverty are the “heroes” of science and technology and one hundred nations have printed their revered scientists’ likenesses on their currency, which has elevated those scientists as exalted bearers of their people’s best vision of themselves.

For him, his contribution traverses science and technology, culminating in reformulated and solved nine partial differential equations listed in the 20 Grand Challenges of computing.

The equations, he said, was invented akin to the iconic Navier-Stokes equations listed in the Seven Millennium Problems of mathematics.

“Those Seven Millennium Problems are to mathematics what the Seven Wonders of the World are to history. To be accurate, the equations I solved were not exactly solvable, but were computably solvable. That is, I digitally solved the grand challenge version, not the millennium one that must be solved logically,” he said.

He buttressed his point by saying that a novelist is a storyteller, and a scientist is a history maker; while a novelist creates a fictional world, a scientist discovers factual stories about our universe.

“I am an internet scientist who discovered factual stories. I reprogrammed and reinvented an internet to tell 65,000 factual stories to as many sub-computers,” he said.

As said by him, the internet meets humanity’s fundamental need to compute and communicate as well as spreads like bush fire, and resonates decade after decade capable of being relevant several centuries to come.

“The internet is a technology that both connects people and connect with people in a way that will forever remain deep and enduring,” he asserted, saying that as the artist that told stories about how the Laws of Motion gave rise to the eternal truths of calculus; timeless truths that will outlast the changing opinions of all times.

“My restated Second Law of Motion became my footprints; my reformulated partial differential equations became my handprints; and my reinvented algorithms became my fingerprints on the sands of time,” he said, emphasizing that told a story in which a new technology came alive through three boards, namely the storyboard, blackboard, and motherboard.

“My story has been retold from boardrooms to newsrooms, from classrooms to living rooms. It all began as a dialogue between a supercomputer programmer and his 65,000 sub-computers, which he reprogrammed as an internet,” Emeagwali said.

He elaborated his position saying that during a conversation conducted in the languages of physics and mathematics between him and his machines, in 1989, “I performed a world record of 3.1 billion calculations per second. This occurred when my keyboard replaced the handwriting on my blackboard and bridged the gap between man and motherboard. I became known for my discovery that a supercomputer is an internet and vice versa, and I, the storyteller, became both the story and the witness.”

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

IT Edge ranks top 50 ICT companies in W/Africa

IT Edge News.Com has announced plans to unveil its ranking of top 50 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) companies in West Africa during a luncheon in Lagos.

Head of IT Edge’s Intelligence Unit, Mr. Segun Oruame, made this known at the weekend, saying that this year’s edition of the West Africa Top 50 Technology Business ceremony has been scheduled to hold on November , 26, this year.

According to him, this year’s Top 50 would be the fourth since 2007 and has been incorporated as part of the IT Edge West Africa 4th Convergence Forum; the annual interactive Forum since 2006 that focuses on Convergence Trends in West Africa, just as the forum has enjoyed the support the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) since 2007 among others.

“This year’s event equally gets the support from the regulatory authorities from Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone,” he said. Oruame noted that the two events are organized by the IT Edge Intelligence Unit (ITE-IU) while the 2010 Convergence Forum has the theme: ‘Driving Convergence through Connectivity Infrastructure’.

This, he said, would underscore the significant entry of Glo-1 and Main One undersea cables in what should radically change broadband connectivity access across West Africa.

“The top 50 rating is an aggregate of companies across West Africa in the technology business sector whose performance in 2006 made the mark on service excellence. The companies were rated on market spread and technical competence, functionality and relevance in terms of customers’ service and contribution to national economy in their respective areas of operation among other factors,” he said.

The survey, he explained, is annually conducted by IT Edge Intelligence Unit based on detailed analysis of available data on the ICT, technology business sector in 10 of the 14 ECOWAS countries.

The data used for the survey, he said, include basic information on each organisations directly from some of companies or third party information source including leading analyst firms such as Gartner Group and IDC, local newspapers and magazines, news websites and international news publications including Technology Times (Nigeria), IT Weekly (Dubai), Balancing Act, the Financial Times, ITRealms Online and the Economist in the UK, the Forbes Rich List, the Fortune 500, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. Among the top 50 for 2010 are Globacom, Systemspecs, Unique Solutions (Gambia), PPC, DOPC, NIIT, and MTN. Others are Interswitch, Computer Warehouse Group, DCC, Zinox, Nokia, Cisco, HP, Aviat and Helios, among others.

“They represent the best of technology and business efforts in terms of corporate excellence, service delivery, transparency and strict adherence to the tenets of best international practice,” he said. Pointing out that the rating would be the fourth for the ECOWAS sub-region, and include companies from French and English speaking West Africa. Rating covered all sub-sectoral players ranging from international vendors, software companies, infrastructure providers, telcos, handset manufacturers, and distribution companies to PC makers.

“We have witnessed tremendous market growth in the last few years helped by liberalisation and deregulation. We have also seen a hash of service delivery and opportunistic products making appearance on the shelf without any concern for whether they meet customer’s expectations or not. This rating is an expansion of our editorial vision at helping to create a market of accurate ‘facts and figures’” he said.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Ayo-Fisher lifts CWG with HRLeadership award

The group head, Human Resource for Computer Warehouse Group, Mrs. Olapeju Ayo-Fisher, has been honoured at the just concluded Asia Pacific Human Resources Managers Congress, with a global award for HRLeadership for excellence.

Corporate Communications Manager, CWG, Mr. Chidi Okpala, confirmed this at the weekend, saying that the award is an international prize in recognition of exemplary leadership and contributions made in the field of Human Resources.

A press statement made available by Okpala to ITRealms Online indicated that a letter sent to Mrs. Ayo-Fisher by the chairman of the congress, Mr. Tom Hilton, explained that the award is to recognise the best of the best, organized for a professional cause.

“The objective being benchmarking talent and HR practices,” he said, stressing that with this award, Olapeju has placed her name in the international field of professionalism and more importantly too, the name of Computer Warehouse Group, which she has served as Group head Human resource for close to a decade.

Commenting on the prize, the Group Managing Director, CWG, Mr. Austin Okere, while presenting the award to Mrs. Fisher, congratulated her on this achievement and expressed appreciation on her loyalty which has brought elevation to CWG in the international world of professionalism in business.

“I take this opportunity to congratulate you on this achievement on behalf of the management and staff of CWG. Thank you for consolidating CWG’s brand on the global map,” he said.

ITRealms Online recalls that the HR Leadership award is conferred on individuals who have displayed skills in performance management, risk management, team orientation, people management, achieving excellence and business goal management.

According to Okpala, CWG is proud to be associated with these skills in its people which it holds pricelessly, whereas it’s Fisher’s function to ensure that these values are imbibed in over 450 members of staff at CWG across Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda.

Mrs. Ayo-Fisher is a graduate of the University of Lagos and holds a Masters in Industrial Relations, just as she has attended a number of training within and out of the country.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

UNESCO,ICANN back multilingualism in cyberspace

The leadership of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and global coordinator of internet protocol, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) have entered a deal by signing a letter of intent to support multi-lingualism in cyberspace.

This deal was consummated between ICANN president, Mr. Rod Beckstrom and UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Mr. Janis Karklins during the recently concluded 5th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Vilnius, Lithuania.

With this, UNESCO and ICANN agreed to work together to further strengthen multilingualism in cyberspace and facilitate the successful implementation of internationalized country code top-level domains (IDN ccTLDs).

The signing officials said, sets the tone for a common front and interest regarding the internationalization of the Internet Domain Name System (DNS).

“The Letter of Intent aims at the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement signed in December 2009. Both organizations agreed to collaborate in the development and internationalization of the Internet DNS and to undertake a variety of activities,” a press statement made available to ITRealms Online disclosed.

The major objective of this joint effort, UNESCO official, said, is to provide assistance to its Member States by creating a reference table of country names and abbreviations for countries whose official languages are based on Cyrillic script.
Other languages and scripts are expected to follow.

At the UNESCO Open Forum organized in the framework of IGF 2010, Rod Beckstrom, ICANN President said, “ICANN welcomes UNESCO’s plan to provide linguistic support to those who want to participate in the fast track process but need linguistic help in preparing their request.”

On the other hand, Karklins of UNESCO confirmed that his organisation with its mandate, is well placed to invite, encourage and assist its Member States to participate in the development of an IDN ccTLD country names cum abbreviations reference table.

“Both organizations recognize the importance of the Internet for building inclusive knowledge societies, and strengthening and promoting cultural diversity and multilingualism in cyberspace,” he said.

The exact scope of the project is yet to be defined, but the concrete joint activity would already facilitate the introduction of internationalized domain names at the top level, helping UNESCO Member States to prepare their IDN ccTLD applications.
 
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Ghana to leverage mobile health Africa

Ghana is planning to leverage on Mobile Health Africa summit to boost its health services to the citizens, through an event being organised by the Mobile World magazine and Anadach Group, based in the United States.

Chief executive officer, Mobile World, Mr. Akin Napthal said in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online that Africa is seeking better health solutions through mobile technologies.

The event slated for December this year, he said, would be a gathering of African’s best brains in adoption of technologies for mobile health services.

He said that global mobile communication and health experts are set to meet in Ghana to debate on appropriate and timely solutions for Africa’s pressing health challenges.

He also said that delegates are expected from across Africa, Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East.

Mr. Napthal, who doubles as the conference co-director, hinted that it would to take place between December 2 and 3, at the Labadi Hotel, in Accra.

“This summit will explore the use of mobile technologies to improve access to quality health care, particularly in underserved populations; and in health research, training, and education
applications in Africa,” he said.

Mobile phones, he said, have the ability to revolutionize several components of the health delivery system, including collecting clinical and community health data, monitoring patient vital signs in real-time, augmenting the direct provision of care by linking health care workers to patients, delivering healthcare information to practitioners, researchers, and patients as well as addressing supply chain management problems.

Equally, he said, Mobile phones could play a significant role in health financing systems, including authentication of health insurance subscribers, monitoring of health benefits and paying for health services and products.

He underscored the fact that mHealth Africa summit presents an opportunity to bring together interested parties from around the world working in the health care and associated sectors to exchange ideas, discuss innovative solutions, explore scalability and sustainability of successful pilots, and develop collaborations in Africa.

Founding partner Anadach Group, Dr. Egbe Osifo-Dawodu, urged stakeholders to jointly channel key implementation of mHealth deployment in Africa.

The conference, he said, would become an annual event to come at a time when mobile penetration rates on the African continent are rising at a high rate.

In 2009, he noted that Africa was estimated to have more than 379 million mobile phone users compared to 246 million in 2008.

“It is the precise time to put more focus on the growth of mHealth in Africa. With that fact mobile is perhaps the fastest and cost effective and interactive way to reach the rural areas in term of health delivery,” he said.

For health and ICT entrepreneurs, the new platform creates an opportunity to develop innovative ideas that address existing problems or create new solutions to improve healthcare.

“Most African countries are not on track to meet the UN’s Millennium Development Goals so the need for innovation has never been greater,” Dr. Alade, the conference co-director asserted.

He further said, this summit poses a great opportunity in discussing and learning more on the future of mhealth in Africa. Through the forum, mobile and health experts will review the mHealth opportunities and challenges in Africa. In addition, experts will discuss and understand the role regulators in developing mHealth on the continent drawing comparisons with the developed world.

“This is an opportunity for participants to gain insight into case studies of various mhealth deployments and initiatives, deeper understanding on the business model of mhealth, networking,” Mr. Napthal added.

Speakers at the conference, he said, would include Prof. Peter Nyongo, the Kenya Minister for Medical Services who will also be the special guest, Brooke Partridge, CEO and founder, Vital Wave Consulting, USA, Bas Hoefman, Founder and Director, Text to Change, Holland Dr Ashifi Gogo, Sproxil, Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Fafunwa, Senior Partner Kitskoo, Phillipines, Mr. Piers Bocock, Senior Director, Management Sciences for Health, USA,, Ruchi Dass, Wireless Healthcare, E-health and Healthcare IT Champion, Bright Simons, CEO, mPedigree, Ghana among others.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Etisalat, AAF partner on cultural heritage

Innovative mobile company, Etisalat Nigeria, is partnering with the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) to promote the nation’s cultural heritage.

The partnership is African Artists’ Foundation (AAF) exhibition designed to promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage.

The chief executive officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans noted that the exhibition uses the power of photography to address social issues in the country as well as capture the essence of Lagos State from a holistic and historical perspective.

Addressing participants at the opening session and private viewing of the Lagos Photo exhibition 2010 tagged “No Judgment, Africa Under The Prism” Evans said, that the exhibition strongly identifies the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria as presented by select photographers representing African sensibilities.

“The photographs at this exhibition tell a story of a country that is vibrant and full of optimism, two traits which Etisalat associates with,” he said, just as the sponsorship was not the end of the telco’s involvement with photography.

“Over the next few months, we will hold a photographic competition for amateurs that will give the wider population an opportunity to use their cameras and phones to record images of this large and vibrant country and win a prize for their efforts,” he said.

Mr. Evans reiterated Etisalat’s commitment to supporting noble causes which have positive impact on the lives of its customers and the wider Nigerian public.

“Etisalat is committed to giving back to the community and we are glad at the opportunity to support Nigerian arts which this exhibition brings,” he said.

He further expressed delight at AAF’s intention of taking the exhibition of photographs onto the street and displaying them in a number of prominent places around Lagos.

The African Artists’ Foundation, based in Lagos, has as its dual mission; the promotion of African arts and artists and the promotion of public health issues and awareness.

The Foundation is unique in Nigeria in that it complies, not only with all the requirements of a charitable foundation in Nigeria, but is organized and incorporated to be recognized as a non-profit charitable foundation in the United States as well.
 
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

ITU takes regulators on tomorrow’s digital world

Global telecommunication regulator, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has concluded plans to host the 2010 worldwide-based Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) and Industry Leaders Forum on “Unique platform for private and public sectors: Building tomorrow’s digital world.”

A press statement from ITU made available to ITRealms Online, last weekend, indicated that the forum has been scheduled to hold between November 10 and 12, this year, in Hotel Le Méridien Président, Dakar, Senegal.

ITRealms Online gathered that since its launch in 2000, ITU’s annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) has provided a unique venue for regulators and policy-makers to meet and debate the key topics facing the ICT sector.

“GSR is the only global platform for the world’s regulators. The event is a unique platform designed to foster an open dialogue between government, the private sector, investors and consumers,” an official said.

The three-day event would be presided over by the Director General, Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Post (ARTP) of Senegal, Mr. Ndongo Diao.

The twin events organized by ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) in collaboration with the ARTP, would facilitate a meeting of Regulatory Associations to be held in the afternoon of 9 November under the chairmanship of by Mr. Sylvanus Kla, Director General, ATCI (Côte d’Ivoire), and Chairman of the West African Telecommunication Regulation Association (WATRA).

On the Global Industry Leaders Forum (GILF), the organizers said, it’s an annual event which provides a neutral platform for members of ITU’s Development Sector to share their views with policy makers and regulators on major issues facing the ICT sector.

Particularly, GILF would emphasis on how to reduce barriers to ICT investment in developing and least developed countries.

Also, the Global Industry Leaders’ Forum and the Global Symposium for Regulators would examine the challenges for regulators to stimulate nationwide broadband deployment through adaptive and targeted regulations and out-of-the-box tools.

Just as discussions would cover the impact of broadband on and beyond the ICT sector as well as the driving forces of today’s and tomorrow’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) markets, notably the migration from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting and the allocation of the digital dividend.

Further, GSR would focuses on new regulatory models taking into account the need to keep up with the pace of convergence and integration of ubiquitous networks, in particular through adapting institutional structure and mandates, adopting cutting-edge best practices and embracing new tools such as innovative dispute resolution techniques.

In addition to the panel discussions and presentations, two interactive workshops would be held on ‘Building on broadband and National School Connectivity Plans’ featuring the ITU flagship initiative Connect a School, Connect a Community.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

NIG’s search for I4J candidates ends today

The Nigeria Internet Group (NIG) has would today close the search for Internet for Jobs (I4J) candidates, according to President, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr. Lanre Ajayi.

He also said that this is towards the realization of the goal of promoting the Internet as a platform for creating jobs.

Ajayi who made this known in Lagos at the weekend, said with the commencement of the search for a budding entrepreneur, the group would be considering for a grant of one million naira to each successful applicant for the development of an e-Commerce web portal and marketing of their on-line services.NIG boss and managing director, Pinet informatics, pointed out that all applicants must demonstrate capacity to run an enterprise whether existing or a start up.

“They must submit an abridged proposal of a business plan detailing the nature of the business, target market, projected sales and expenditure over a three year period, viability and sustainability, among others,” he said. Ajayi also said that the short-listed candidates would present their proposals to a committee at a business round table on October 29, 2010, being put together by NIG in Lagos.

The applications, he said, must reach NIG secretariat on or before Wednesday October 20, 2010, today.

He explained that the Internet for jobs initiative is actively supported by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Zenith Bank Plc to name a few.

ITRealms Online recalls that NIG launched this initiative in 2008. NIG founded since 1995, Ajayi said, has been flying the nation’s flag in the cyberspace while the seminar’s theme is on “Internet for Jobs: Creating Jobs by Promoting eCommerce.”

Chairman of the occasion billed to hold at Golden Gate Ikoyi-Lagos, would be the former Minister of Communications, Chief Olawale Ige (MFR), who doubles as the Chairman, NIG board of trustees.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Alcatel-Lucent is leader in IP backhaul – Infonetics

Paris-based Alcatel-Lucent has enhanced its mobile backhaul solution to enable mobile network operators to seamlessly support ‘AnyG to LTE’ a service that facilitates radio access compartibility across the Second and Third Generations respectively as well as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) network technologies.

This is coming as Alcatel-Lucent moved into the number one market share position with 23 per cent of worldwide Ethernet cell site gateway and router revenue for the first half of 2010.

Regional Communications Manager, North, West & Central Africa, Alcatel-Lucent, Sherine Aziez confirmed this in a press statement made available to ITRealms Online, saying that the enhancement in its portfolio would boost ‘all IP’ wireless transformation.

This new capabilities, Alcatel-Lucent said, would equip operators with an unmatched end-to-end mobile backhaul solution to deliver high-capacity mobile broadband services.

Aziez quoted Infonetics recent data publication as indicating that Alcatel-Lucent recorded 231 per cent year-over-year growth.

“This combined with significant customer momentum gained over the last year, reinforces Alcatel-Lucent’s solid position in mobile backhaul, LTE and overall strength in wireless IP,” Aziez said.

According to Infonetics recent report tagged “Mobile Backhaul Equipment and Services,” informed that the booming growth in the mobile backhaul IP cum Ethernet equipment market and reports that Alcatel-Lucent leads for the second year in a row with router sales in this space.

Aziez noted that Alcatel-Lucent marked its entrance into this burgeoning market three years ago with the introduction of its mobile transport architecture, both anticipating the evolution to an all IP mobile infrastructure and the requirement to support LTE.

This, the manager said, paved the way for Alcatel-Lucent to introduce the 7705 Service Aggregation Router (SAR)-18 to its extensive mobile backhaul portfolio, along with robust end-to-end, unified network and policy management from the Radio Access Network (RAN) to the packet core, for simplified network integration, trouble shooting and rapid service deployment.

“With these enhancements, Alcatel-Lucent is continuing its innovation and technical leadership, enabling mobile network operators to cost effectively manage exploding subscriber data traffic brought on by smartphones and the thousands of applications and video content running on them,” he said.

Also, Aziez pointed out that Alcatel-Lucent understands the challenges faced by mobile network operators and has enhanced its solutions with ‘Any G to LTE’ capabilities to ensure service providers are not caught in an expensive transport bottleneck trap as they upgrade 2G systems to 3G/3G+ in advance of LTE roll outs.

The Alcatel-Lucent mobile backhaul solution is part of the company’s High Leverage Network (HLN) architecture which enables service providers to leverage their network assets to deliver new revenue-generating services, while also reducing the cost per bit for basic transport.

As a leader in both IP routing and wireless access, Aziez said, Alcatel-Lucent is ideally positioned to assist mobile service providers in building highly scalable and reliable IP networks that enable new business models and profitable mobile services delivery.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Aviat assures on local support

Head Business Development of global Internet Protocol (IP) Back-haul solution provider, Aviat Networks, Mr. Patrick Martini, has assured of total local support for its customers in Nigeria.

Martini who was in Lagos penultimate week, said that the rationale behind massive financial and technological investments in markets without the necessary logistics and support plan by some telecommunication operators has called for concern.

According to him, the global economic situation that presently exists makes it imperative that telecom operators considering their various choices in network enhancement deployments must consider the availability of adequate local logistics and support that can be offered by the competing solution providers before they make their choice of solution providers.

“Technology alone won’t get you were you need to go. To be the leader in your market, you also need the very best in logistics, support and services to actually get the full return on technology investment” he said.

Martini described support as the most important consideration before any technology upgrade, acquisition and deployment, stressing that any technology solution provider that does not have the capacity to provide the very best in logistics, support and services in the Nigerian market, does not have the development of the country’s telecommunications sector at heart.

“The length of time and the evidence of what has been achieved by any solution provider, especially within the Nigerian telecommunications sector, must also serve as an evidence of it commitment and readiness to play in Nigeria” he said.

Further, he described Aviat Networks as the ‘most strategically positioned’ solution provider for the telecom sector in Nigeria today.

Mr. Martini also defended the claim based on the fact that this global leader meets all the criteria to prove their seriousness in the local market. He explained that, “we have a long-standing presence in Nigeria, from the times when CDMA operations was the rave till now, and we are staffed by indigenous experts who understand what it takes to get things done the right way”, he concluded.

Aviat Networks, which was formerly known as Harris Stratex, is currently rated as experts in wireless advanced IP network migration, and also building the foundation for the 4G/LTE broadband future and enabling wireless transformation around the world. Nigeria currently ranks as Aviat Networks most important market.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Bomb blast: Ekuwem advises govt to use advance tech detectors

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert and Chairman, Technology Development Company Limited, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem has called on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that they deploy advanced detectors in effort at curbing the effect of the recent bomb attack on October 1, this year.

Ekuwem who spoke in Lagos, told ITRealms Online that the growing insecurity in the country is as a result of government’s inability to sufficiently appreciate the urgent need to deploy advanced technologies that could enhance effective security surveillance, monitoring and policing across the nation.

While decrying the recent bomb blast that rocked Abuja on Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary celebration, Dr. Ekuwem, described the incident as a national shame and serious embarrassment to the government and good people of Nigeria.

Ekuwem also said that all well-meaning Nigerians should be ashamed of this disgrace especially as the ugly incident took place on a day the country marked her golden jubilee of nationhood and many international dignitaries were in Abuja for the celebration.

“The simple fact that the security agencies could not detect the movement of the bomb devices into Abuja and near the Eagle Square where the ceremony took place, is a clear indication that much still need to be done to improve our security surveillance, monitoring and policing operations,” he said, stressing that government should appreciate the enormous power of ICT and leverage on it for national security operations.

There are modern technologies like Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS), that enable the scanning of every piece of cargo, container, truck and vehicles that enter Nigeria at the seaports, airports and inland border posts.

“They can capture the number plates, biometrics of the driver as well as photographs and video clips of each port/border crossing into Nigeria by any cargo, container, truck, tanker or vehicle. They can scan on specific highways, roads, check-points, inland waterways, etc. contents of cars, trucks, tankers, boats and ferries as the case may be,” he said.

Ekuwem elucidated that the scanned bulk material data, the image and video could be monitored in-situ, remotely with the same outputs, which could be stored locally and remotely while stored data, could be accessed remotely on a password-restricted basis.

He maintained that if such security surveillance and monitoring facilities were installed in Abuja and other major cities prior to the latest incident, the security operatives would have been able to detect, intercept the bomb and apprehend the criminals.

According to him, there are fixed and mobile scanning devices that could be installed at strategic locations to monitor vehicles and persons with a view to checking the movement of arms and ammunitions including all sorts of dangerous weapons.

Dr. Ekuwem pointed out that mobile VACIS scanning systems would patrol streets and parking lots and detect bombs, explosives, arms, ammunitions and weapons hidden or welded inside the body or chasis of parked vehicles.

He advised security agencies in the country to avail themselves of advanced security-based technologies ranging from intrusion sensing, detection, national identity data capture and management, biometrics data capture and storage, password-restricted access to stored data for both local and remote access, village-wide, town-wide, city-wide, state-wide and nation-wide surveillance (video with bi-directional audio) with local/in-situ, distributed and central/national storage/archiving with password-restricted access as well as with date-and-time-specific playback devices for criminal investigations.

As said by him, Nigeria’s ICT industry could help the nation check the growing insecurity by establishing criminal databases with exciting agency-specific graphical user interfaces for use by law enforcement agencies.

Further, Ekuwem said the government has no reason to appear helpless at this time of serious national security crisis when there is robust ICT sector that could be relied upon for effective preventive remedies.

He insisted that ICT could help with enabling legislations by the National Assembly, to intercept criminal discussions and conversations in ICT networks by criminals prior to or during or after crimes.

“We can enable the retention by telecom operators and Internet service providers of call data and catch word-specific Internet and Intranet content for a reasonably long period of time to aid criminal investigations when queried by appropriate software engines,” he said, noting that this would check crimes at the planning stages and place security operatives ahead of criminals’ activities.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

FG, CNP to collaborate on SoTNE’s1,000 entrepreneurs

The Federal Government has said it would collaborate with the Computerize Nigeria Project (CNP) in achieving its aim of creating 1000 entrepreneurs through wealth with integrity among Nigerians within the shortest possible time.

This is coming as FG said its National Action Plan on Employment Creation (NAPEC) recently adopted by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) is targeting about 5 million jobs beginning from the next two years.

Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, disclosed this during a one-day seminar on Spirit of the True Nigerian Entrepreneur (SoTNE) with the theme ‘Creating Wealth with Integrity in 21st Century Nigeria’ which held in Abuja over the weekend.

Wogu said, all contracts under consideration by the Federal Executive Council must henceforth indicate its local employment content under a new contract policy adopted by the government.

He reiterated the readiness of the Federal Government through his office to ensure that the objective of the conference is met.

“We are ready to collaborate with the SoTNE team to achieve this laudable objective of creating wealth with integrity,” he said.

According to him, who was the guest of honour at the conference, under the latest NAPEC, it has become mandatory for all contracts or programmes by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to indicate their local employment content.

“Overall, the NAPEC will ensure that Nigeria meets her employment challenges by creating 4 to 5 million new jobs in its first two years of implementation,” Wogu said.

Wogu assured that the President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration is committed to ensuring gainful employment for every Nigerian in the labour market and is ready to collaborate with SoTNE, noting that government’s recognition of the strategic role of the private sector in employment generation, stressing that government is mindful of its responsibilities under the various Public-Private-Partnership arrangements.

Chairman of the occasion and former Minister for Commerce, Chief Charles Ugwu, lauded the conveners led by chairman of Zinox, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh, whom he said, despite his success was very willing to show the way to other Nigerians.

He, therefore tasked participants to make good use of the opportunity by remaining attentive throughout the SoTNE conference.

“As we discuss the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) value chain remember that there are other value chains. Nigeria needs entrepreneurs and there are many opportunities begging to be explored,” Ugwu said.

The Vice-President Namadi Sambo was represented by his aide Dr. Baba Jubril, alongside Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NTIDA) Prof. Cleopas Angaye, Director General of National Productivity Centre (NPC), Dr. Paul Bdliya and had the Chief Executive of Zinox Computers, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh to name a few.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Mobitel names Tom Davies, COO

Mobitel Limited has named Mr. Tomi Davies as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the company.

Mr. Davies is a senior Information Technology (IT) executive with management experience from FTSE 100 level companies and governments in the United Kingdom (UK), United States (US) and Africa.

Davies joins Mobitel with diversified experience, having worked as Director of Strategy for Sapient Inc. He assisted with Siemens reorganisation of the Wireless Engineering Division to adopt Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS).

Before then, Davies was Head, IT Research for Marks & Spencer, which developed the UK Governments award winning DirectGov website and was Project Director for the World Banks Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) project for the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Sector Reform (BPSR).

President of Mobitel Nigeria, Mr. Johnson Salako, said that he was pleased to have Mr. Davies on board.

“He is a strategic addition to the Mobitel family and comes to further strengthen the team to enable us to keep the promises we have made to the Nigerian people to deliver quality products and services,” he said.

According to him, Davies specializes in the development and implementation of eGovernment and eBusiness Information Systems.

He is a systems analysis expert with vast project management experience, who works with individuals and teams to “maximize the creation of social and economic value using digital technologies”.

Prior to his appointment as Chief Operating Officer of Mobitel, Davies was the chief executive officer, TechnoVision Communications, a Nigerian ICT services organisation.

He is a Prince 2 practitioner and belongs to various organizations and institutions including the Institute of Directors (IOD), Project Management Institute (PMI), Computer Professionals of Nigeria (CPN), Nigeria Computer Society and Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM).

His blog “Thoughts from Tomi” has been nominated for a number of awards. A Lagosian, Mr. Davies is the publisher of SupaStrikas a fantasy league football comic which is Africa’s largest publication.

A graduate of the University of Miami, he lives in London, UK and is married with children.
ITRealms Online recalls that Mobitel is a pioneering provider of telecommunications services in Nigeria.

A wholly acquired by a consortium lead by Omni Ventures in 2008, Mobitel plans to offer fixed and wireless voice, data and value-added services focusing on small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) and high-end consumers across Nigeria.

Mobitel possesses nationwide frequency spectrum allocations and a set of licenses that could be converted into a unified access service license.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

164 winners emerge in Verve card promo

A total of 164 electronic card users in the country have emerged winners of various prizes in the second and third weekly draws in the on-going Verve Card promo by Interswitch Nigeria Limited with over 18 banks nationwide.

For the second week, the 96 winners were selected from the raffle draw held for users of the Verve card, while 68 emerged last weekend during the third draw.

Some of the winners, for instance, from First Bank Plc, include Iheano Chukwugozie Ignatius; Ibrahim Adamu Babagida; Briggs Theodore Ibinabo and Taiwo Rebecca Oyenike who took the star prize.

Affirming this at the weekend, Divisional Head, Verve Business, Interswitch, Mrs. Tobi Boshoro, said the promo is to give the winners the opportunity to win and own various items such as the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Television sets, Flash drive, Media Player (Mp3) among others, as well as the chance to migrate to Verve cards.

She noted that Verve Use and Draws promo which commenced in September would end in December this year and is to give lucky people the platform to win and still enjoy their Verve cards.

She further said that the promo was in association with over 16 banks in the country, which include Afribank, BankPHB, Ecobank, GTB, First bank, Fidelity bank, FCMB and Fin bank.

Others, she said, include Intercontinental bank, Oceanic bank, Sterling bank, Sky bank, Spring bank, Stanbic bank, unity bank and Wema bank.

Equally, she said that the promo is unbeatable, stressing that the essence is to secure the funds of the customers.

“You can pay your electricity and Digital Satellite Tv (DSTV) bills using the Verve card,” she said.

Mrs. Boshoro also said that the focus of this promo is to reward all the Verve card holders.

“You can still participate by doing transactions through the Automated Teller Machine (ATM)” she said, implore customers to migrate from magnetic stripe cards to Verve cards, “because it is more secure.”

Also speaking, Deputy Director in charge of South-West zone at Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Mr. Ola Rahim, described the promo as a package capable of reducing crime rates in the country.

One of the winners, Mr. Sunday Amos, described the promo as a great one. Yet, another winner, Mr. Nathaniel Joshua Friday, said he never expected to win, stressing that it has been a great luck to him.

Equally, a winner, Mr. Abdullahi, appreciated Interswitch for its effort towards the promo, adding that he was extremely happy when was informed that he won LCD TV.

According to Spring Bank representative, Mr. Mike Onwu, they recorded recently high increase in number of users, saying that great numbers of customers are now using it.

His counterpart from Sterling Bank, Mr. Ademola Ajaye, said that customers demand more of verve cards.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Nigeria @ 50: Emeagwali on Memories of Colonial Africa (2)

I was born in 1954 in colonial Africa. One of my most cherished mementos from the colony of Nigeria is one of the pennies I received for my school lunch allowance. The coins bore the likeness of Edward VIII, who became King of England on January 20, 1936, and were minted in anticipation of his reign. However, Edward abdicated the throne on December 11th of that year before he could be crowned. He gave up the British kingdom to marry the love of his life, an American divorcee.

In 1960, a typical day in my life began at our compound on Yoruba Road, in Sapele. Our compound was adjacent to the Eagle Club, a night club where I ran errands for music legends, such as master trumpeters E.T. Mensah, Eddy Okonta, and Zeal Onyia. They would give me a penny to buy two sticks of cigarettes and I would bring back their half-penny change.

Some mornings, my mother would give me a penny with the instructions: "Buy rice with a farthing, beans with a farthing, and bring back a half-penny change." When I told this story to my son, Ijeoma, he interrupted, saying, incredulously "Daddy, you can't get change for a penny!" I then show him my souvenir: a British West African central-holed coin, bearing the head of King George V and minted in 1936 with the inscription "one tenth of a penny." The central hole was for stringing the coins together, to carry them. The world has changed greatly since my youth!

Nigeria has existed for 96 years and has been independent for 50 years. Nigerians must look back to the first 46 years, spent under colonial rule, to understand the 50 post-colonial years of their self-rule. Looking backward, like the Sankofa, is a prerequisite for understanding the way forward.

With self-rule came responsibility. We're now being held accountable for our actions and inaction, our coups and corruption, and our civil wars in Biafra, Congo, and Rwanda.

Looking backward 96 years will enable Nigeria to understand when and where it's train derailed and how to put it back on track. I believe our train derailed because, although the 46 pre-independence years were a brain-gain period, the 50 post-independence years have been marked by the largest brain drain since the Atlantic slave trade.

Looking forward 50 years, I foresee that nations delivering information and communication technologies will indirectly rule Africa. I see the cellular phone, the computer, and the internet enabling Africa to replace selection with election. I see the internet enabling citizens to become reporters, decentralizing the media. I see technology enabling freedom of the press and democracy in Africa.

Kwame Nkrumah said, "Socialism without science is void." I say, "Democracy without technology is void."

A scientist can be famous yet remain unknown. The grand challenge for scientists is to focus on discoveries that reduce poverty rather than on winning prizes. To focus on the prizes we have won, instead of the discoveries we have made, would be akin to dwelling on a hero's medal and ignoring his heroism.

Discoveries and inventions that increase wealth and reduce poverty are the "heroes" of science and technology and one hundred nations have printed their revered scientists' likenesses on their currency. This elevated those scientists as exalted bearers of their people's best vision of themselves.

Please allow me to answer a question I was asked: What did I contribute to science and technology? I reformulated and solved nine partial differential equations listed in the 20 Grand Challenges of computing.

The equations I invented are akin to the iconic Navier-Stokes equations listed in the Seven Millennium Problems of mathematics. Those Seven Millennium Problems are to mathematics what the Seven Wonders of the World are to history. To be accurate, the equations I solved were not exactly solvable, but were computably solvable. That is, I digitally solved the grand challenge version, not the millennium one that must be solved logically.

A novelist is a storyteller, and a scientist is a history maker. A novelist creates a fictional world, but a scientist discovers factual stories about our universe. I am an internet scientist who discovered factual stories. I reprogrammed and reinvented an internet to tell 65,000 factual stories to as many subcomputers.

The internet—meets humanity's fundamental need to compute and communicate—and spreads like bush fire, and resonates decade after decade, and maybe century after century. The internet is a technology that both connects people and connect with people in a way that will forever remain deep and enduring.

I am the artist that told stories about how the Laws of Motion gave rise to the eternal truths of calculus; timeless truths that will outlast the changing opinions of all times. My restated Second Law of Motion became my footprints; my reformulated partial differential equations became my handprints; and my reinvented algorithms became my fingerprints on the sands of time.

I'm the physicist and the mathematician who told a story in which a new technology came alive through three boards: a storyboard, a blackboard, and a motherboard.

My story has been retold from boardrooms to newsrooms, from classrooms to living rooms. It all began as a dialogue between a supercomputer programmer and his 65,000 subcomputers, which he reprogrammed as an internet.

During a conversation conducted in the languages of physics and mathematics between me and my machines, in 1989, I performed a world record of 3.1 billion calculations per second: This occurred when my keyboard replaced the handwriting on my blackboard and bridged the gap between man and motherboard. I became known for my discovery that a supercomputer is an internet and vice versa, and I, the storyteller, became both the story and the witness.

My journey to the frontier of knowledge did not begin in America. It began in 1960 in Colonial Africa.

*Philip Emeagwali has been called “a father of the Internet” by CNN and TIME, and extolled as a “Digital Giant” by BBC and as “one of the great minds of the Information Age” by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. He was voted history’s greatest scientist of African descent by New African.

Excerpt from Nigeria’s 50th anniversary lecture at the Embassy of Nigeria, Paris. Lecture video and audio are posted at http://www.youtube.com/emeagwali#p/a/u/1/uIb-ZyZi2BY and emeagwali.com.

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D