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Sunday, May 27, 2018

Beyond local content in oil, gas: ICT knowledge export call

Can Nigeria export het tested Software Application Solutions? Yes, this has been happening unannounced for some time! Today, our innovation potential is weakened by the wedge of global financial Aid. It is therefore time to restore trust in the ability and audacity of Software Applications developed in Nigeria, by Nigerians wherever they may be anywhere in the world. In my professional assessment, the cumulative potentials of ICT Solutions, processes and services currently developed and supported by Nigerians all over the world is worth over 200billlion USD – including unaccounted patents and IP missing in digital action (MIDA).

To avoid emerging catastrophes in Nigeria’s and indeed Africa’s digital future, rethinking our national ICT strategy – beyond local content in Oil & Gas – has become a matter of critical urgency, for many cogent reasons. The first sustainable reason is that our digital destiny and national survivability should not be constructed on financial Aids as is the case presently at almost all levels of development and national security. In the last 60 years, Africa and Nigeria in particular has been going cap-in-hand, in search of and receiving insignificant financial Aids from Donors all over the world. However, Nations of the world that have attained constructive and sustainable development have not only done that through the mastery of science and technology, but conscious access to reasonable financial Grants for national development – but definitely not through Aids.

Secondly, the supersonic speed of digital evolution has accelerated the need and compels us to rethink national development strategies beyond Oil & Gas revenue generation. This can be done by advancing a National Software Strategic Plan, overhauling her inter-generational wisdom-database recourses and applying Innovative and creative ICT knowledge armory for global competitiveness. More than ever before, empowered by her youthful population of more than 65% of the Continent’s 1.28billion people, Africa/Nigeria is presented with an awesome opportunity to conquer knowledge poverty at all levels and enthrone astonishing prosperity beyond Oil & Gas, and devoid of financial Aids.

And thirdly, above all, the diminishing patriotism, audacity of merit and trustworthy content in our national development attitudes and social engagement agenda has become worrisome and constitute a multi-dimensional burden to sustainable development – especially within the ICT Ecosystem practically propelled by digital centrifugal force. Whereas, all the answers we have been searching for driving our sustainable development over the past 60 years have always resided in our skilled human resources and not on financial Aids.

With the TSA (Treasury Singly Account) and similar ICT solutions and services delivered to Nigeria by Nigerians, the nation has indeed arrived at the threshold to embark on the life-time business of knowledge export and support services to many parts of the world. This is why the promotion of inter-generational knowledge solutions – with particular reference to harnessing the National ICT Ecosystem should be our core strategic imperative. Numerous evidences abound and vividly illustrate why this is the wisdom roadmap to our collective destiny and prosperity. In my professional assessment, the cumulative potentials of ICT Solutions and services currently developed and supported by Nigerians all over the world is worth over 200 billlion USD – including unaccounted patents and IP missing in digital action (MIDA).

Problem is, we currently don’t have the commensurate data to proof this, due to the seeming neglect of critical Baseline studies and blatant appointments of non-professionals to deliver the IT-Profession-of Things at many critical levels. The following are glaring example:

The revenue of the Indian ICT (Information and Communication Technology) sector is expected to reach an approximate value of about INR 14,42,839.5 crores (US$ 225 Billion) by the end of 2020 from current level of INR 10,53,434 crores (US$ 164.3 Billion) growing at CAGR of about ~11.1%, reveals the ASSOCHAM-RNCOS study.

The study jointly published by ASSOCHAM and RNCOS has stated that since cloud, mobility, social media and big data analytics are playing significant role in driving growth of software products and continue to drive the need for investments.
Singapore ICT Industry - Outlook. Contribution to Singapore's Economy. • $167.1 billion Industry Revenue (2014). • 30.3 % Domestic Revenue of Industry  https://www.austrade.gov.au ›  Countries and economies › Singapore.

Malaysia: Te National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Association of Malaysia, or PIKOM, aims to grow the industry’s revenue to RM95 billion by 2017 with its new “5-year strategic direction”. Last year, the national ICT revenue stood at RM57 billion while this year’s projection is expected to be around RM62 billion, according to a study by PIKOM.

Pakistan: The country’s IT industry is set to double by 2020, said the CEO of Pakistan’s national technology fund, increasing from the current worth of $3.5 billion to $7 billion. (source: Express Tribute Sat 19tha may 2018)

.IRELANS: Ireland has become the global technology hub of choice when it comes to attracting the strategic business activities of ICT companies. This has earned Ireland the reputation for being the heart of ICT in Europe. The industry employs over 37,000 people and generates €35 billion in exports annually. The drive is supported through Ireland's 25% R&D tax credit and generous grant support from the IDA. (Source : IDA, Ireland)

CHILE: Johannesburg – Multinational ICT group Datatec’s [JSE:DTC] Logicalis plans to acquire Chilean ICT services and solutions provider, Coasin Chile SA, for up to US$20.8m in cash.
On Tuesday, Datatec announced that a subsidiary of Logicalis Group had signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Coasin Chile, which also has operations in Peru. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018.

TAIWAN: Taiwan’s science parks are designed and administered to provide ideal conditions for high-tech business operations. The parks also provide excellent environments for developing powerful synergy among clusters of related enterprises, some in nearby industrial parks, and public R&D institutions. Taiwan ranks first in the “state of cluster development” index of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competiveness Report 2013- (Source: Taiwan Republic of China –Government Year 2016).

Many smarter countries have realized that the effect of local-content legislation and policies in the oil and gas industry is not enough, recognizing that the core interface to ensuring maximum results reside in making ICT as the key driving force and critical linkage for promoting progressive and sustainable Local Content agenda. The Software-Nigeria knowledge frontier more than ever before, requires a National Software Strategic Plan and forward-looking legislation as roadmap to the creation of more employment, improved GDP, National Security, Youth empowerment assurances, global competitiveness and national survivability.  


*Courtesy: Chris Uwaje, former president, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON)

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