Industry Interest Groups back NITDA on GITEX country partnership

ITRealms:

Some industry interest groups within the Nigeria’s Information Technology (IT) space may have began to drum support for the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) resolve to fly the nation’s flag at the 2014 GITEX in Dubia, the United Arab Emirate (UAE) reports ITRealms.

Investigations carried out by ITRealms, showed that some of the industry groups have since canvassed support for the Nigeria’s participation from their members, including the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) to name a few.

GITEX is organized by the Dubai World Trade Centre as part of the awareness campaign whereas NITDA has taken up the sensitization of its stakeholders across the country backed with the setting up of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to maximize Nigeria’s participation at GITEX 2014 with the theme: Re-imagining our future.

ITRealms recalls that NITDA has a relationship with GITEX organizer as the preferred Country Partner for the five-day event slated to hold at Dubai World Trade Center between October 12 and 16, 2014.

ITRealms gathered that while NCS announced its support during the recently National Conference in the South-Eastern state of Enugu, the likes of NIRA and NCS shared this with their membership through eNewsletters.

NIRA is a stakeholder-led organisation, charged with the management of the Nigeria's country code Top Level Domain Name (ccTLD), dot ng and founded on March 23, 2005.

While NCS prides itself as the umbrella organization of all Information Technology professionals, interest groups and stakeholders in Nigeria and formed since 1978 as Computer Association of Nigeria (COAN) before its transformation into today’s NCS in 2002, as a result of harmonization with other stakeholder and interest groups.

Remmy Nweke/ITRealms

 
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Pix: DG, NITDA MR JACK

FUTO VC insists Nigeria’s education quality intact

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The Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Professor Cyril Chigozie Asiabaka, has declared that Nigeria's education quality has remain intact and there is no difference between the quality of education obtained in the country now and 54 years ago, reports ITRealms.

Responding to questions from newsmen in Owerri recently to mark the 54^th independent anniversary celebration, Prof. Asiabaka insisted that education in Nigeria’s education quality is still intact.

“It is still the same with the early ages of the 1960s. The issue you have at stake is that people are comparing apples with oranges. In those days, many people were 25 years when they were in primary schools. May be they were behaving like adults. But the world is a global village now. People are knowing more things,” he declared.

Prof. Asiabaka also stressed that the important thing now is for Nigeria as a nation to see this difference, wondering who some Nigerians are comparing the alleged falling standard of education with?

“Every country must have a path to its own development. As we are now, you can’t say the quality of education is going down. The challenges facing us today are not the same challenges that faced us 20 years ago. Nigeria is moving. Education standard is moving in the direction of the world as the world moves. So, we can’t compare what happened in 1960s with what is happening today in Nigeria. So, in my own thinking, what people are thinking is nostalgia—in those days, when we were there, I used to be,” he told newsmen.

Prof. Asiabaka equally noted that the country had not reached where it supposed to be in the area of education, saying this was the reason the nation’s government was investing hugely in the education sector.

“There is always room for improvement. Educationists in Nigeria and the universities are doing their best to improve the quality of education in the country; because Nigeria has the potential to be a great country, that’s why the founding fathers founded universities like FUTO where they want us to help them in technological advancement that will improve economic development of the country.

 

“In that direction, FUTO is taking the lead as the Premier University of Technology in the country, turning out graduates that had impacted positively in the technological and economical development of the country”.

Asiabaka emphasized that the federal government should challenge the university and educational institutions to perform their duties.

“What we are challenging government is to start what other governments do—challenge the university. A technological university is there to solve technological problems of the country. It needs funding. So what the government should do is to challenge us for us to do our duty. That’s why we do research. So, FUTO is there as part of the transformation agenda of the country. That is hope for this country to move to become a developed country among the comity of nations” he said.

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Pix: VC-FUTO, Prof. Cyril Chigozie Asiabaka,

Panasonic’s Sustainable Living, Smart Solutions to debut @GITEX’14

ITRealms:

The Panasonic Marketing Middle East & Africa (PMMAF), has advanced plans for the launch of the company’s latest, unique and exciting sustainable living and smart business solutions at GITEX Technology Week 2014, reports ITRealms. 

This, ITRealms gathered is aimed at providing customers with interesting insights about Panasonic’s plan for the region with some top executives, senior management officials and product managers from Panasonic lined up in attendance.

Also, ITRealms learnt will provide ideal opportunity to review the industry leading products and solutions from Panasonic stable.

Just as the event would happen at Sharjah D Meeting Room at the World Trade Center, Dubai, on Sunday, October 12, 2014, while experience center has been set up at booth A3-5 at Hall 3.

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Kelechi Okorie emerges 2014 Journalist of the year @Telecom Awards

ITRealms:

The City People’s Kelechi Okorie was named the Telecom Journalist of the Year at the 2014 edition of the Nigerian Telecom Awards, reports ITRealms.

According to the organisers of the awards which took place at the Incubator Event Centre, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos, Kelechi was picked as a result of his unique coverage of the telecommunications industry.

In a citation read at the event, “Kelechi Okorie has been able to create a niche for his medium in telecommunications reportage in the country, making City People Magazine a point of reference for not only the main news, but the news-behind-the-news in the telecommunications sector”. “He brings in an interesting perspective to every story he writes and coverage he does, making otherwise abstract stories, quite appealing to the teeming readers of City People Magazine which has a pride of place as Nigeria’s number one print magazine. No wonder every telecommunications operator craves for coverage of its events by City People Magazine”.
 

 The Telecom Journalist of the Year award category was presented to Okorie by the former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Dr. Josephine Olatomi Soboyejo, former Hon. Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Development in Ogun State.
 

Categories that were awarded on the night include Best in Mobile Banking, Telecom Financing Bank of the Year (Capacity), Best Mobile Money Operator of the year, Card Innovation Bank of the year, Best Mobile Money Bank of the Year, Technology Bank of the Year, Best in Online Banking and Telecom Financing Bank of the Year. Other categories were Indigenous Social Media Application of the year, Telecom CEO of the year, Society Friendly Telecom Operator of the year, Youth Empowerment Telecom Operator of the year, Telecom Innovation Operator of the year as well as several other categories.
 

Awardees include Chairman of Globacom, Dr Mike Adenuga (jnr), Mr. Segun Ogunsanya, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, Etisalat and Spring Bank.
 

The Nigerian Telecom Awards is the singular most important and popular event in the Telecom sector and has been consistent in recognising credible individuals and organisations that are contributing towards national development through the use of information and communications technology (ICT) tools. The awards entered its 10th year in 2014.
 

Kelechi Okorie was also selected as the Brand Writer of the Year 2012 by the Nigerian Media NiteOut Award.

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Pix: courtesy Kelechi Okorie