DBI boss wants major investments in ICT skills - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Administrator of Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Dr. Ike Adinde, has called for significant investment in skills of the workforce to make them key drivers of the economy, reports ITREALMS.

Adinde made the suggestion on Wednesday in Abuja at the inauguration of DBI Telecommunication Network Equipment Laboratory.

He said that the laboratory, worth one million US dollars, was donated by Huawei Technologies Nigeria Limited.

According to him, investing in skills of the workforce of a nation is crucial, especially in an increasingly globalised world.

“There is, therefore, the urgent need for us to train and make available to the industry highly skilled human resources to serve as key drivers of the economy.

“It is in response to these challenges that the DBI has built this ultra-modern Lab to train and equip Nigerians with relevant ICT skills for the 21st century to tackle challenges presented by the 4th industrial revolution which requires tailor-made solutions that keep pace with the ever-evolving telecom industry”, he said.

Adinde said that the lab project was started in July 2018 with the donation of a complement of modern telecom equipment by Huawei Technologies to DBI.

He said that the lab was equipped with transmission equipment and ultra-modern next-Generation Core Network Switching Centre that gives a complete end-to-end telecoms scenario.

“One major benefit of the equipment is that it uses real-world industrial quality components to help students become better prepared for what they will encounter on the job.

“The lab is equally effective for technicians, engineers, field workers and anyone needing further understanding and skills in wireless telecommunications.

Mr Titi Omo-Ettu, the Chairman, Governing Board of DBI, said that the inauguration of the laboratory represented a leap in the efforts of the institute to provide qualitative hands on practical telecommunications and ICT training.

Omo-Ettu said that the development of skilled workforce across all sectors of the economy had become a national priority.

“We are keenly aware that there is a global shift from natural resources as a basis for national competitiveness to human resources underpinned by knowledge innovation.

“Interestingly, it is also increasingly evident that innovation is not about academic qualifications or certificates, the emphasis is on skills and creative abilities of the individual.

“The new DBI telecom industry has a full complement of GSM/UTMS equipment and will be fully deployed for the training and retraining of entry level and middle level engineers in industry.

“This effort is the first step in an ambitious plan by the institute to develop functional laboratories and workshops in its campuses in Kano, Lagos, Enugu and Yola.”

According to him, the DBI campuses will serve as focal ICT training centres and would in time transform to Innovation Hubs.

Mr Kevin Yangyang , Deputy Managing Director, Huawei Technologies, said that as partner to the Nigerian Communication Commission and DBI, the organisation believed in contributing significantly to the development of ICT.

He said that Huawei was doing this through leading ICT solutions and innovations.

He said that as global leader in the sector, the organisation was happy to see high-tech facilities and operations, especially in Africa.

“It is with this passion that we decided to donate this lab to DBI fully equipped with Optical Fibre Nodes, Wireless Radio Access Nodes and Next-Generation Code Switching Network. 

*Uboshe Uboshe with additional report from agency reports.

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DBI boss, Adinde tasks African leaders to stimulate economic growth with ICT skills - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The administrator, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Dr. Ikechukwu Adinde, has tasked African leaders and governments to launch an aggressive intervention in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector by investing in digital  skills  to stimulate economic growth and  youth employment, reports ITREALMS.

Speaking at the recently-ended InternationalTelecommunication Union (ITU) and the Digital Bridge Institute jointly organised Regional Human Capacity Building three-day workshop in Abuja, with the theme: “Strengthening Capacity on Internet Governance in Africa” he said digital literacy in the 21st century has become as important as the ability to read and write was in the 19th century.

``Indeed, policy makers and governments in Africa ought to launch aggressive intervention into the ICT industry by investing in skills development to stimulate economic growth and  tame the rising tide of youth joblessness and associated insecurity in the region,” Adinde said.

He lauded the ITU for establishing  training centres but regretted that “only a few of our youths have the wherewithal to enrol for some of the human capacity training opportunities provided by the ITU centres of excellence and other tertiary institutions.

``This makes the case for intervention even more imperative,’’ he said.

According to the DBI boss, there is a convincing argument that if Africa wants to transform and become a global player, it must transform its human capital.

Adinde said Africa must open access to quality education and training for the young population by deliberately creating funds that will increase access to acquisition of digital skills.

He cited the example of the Smart Africa Scholarship Fund launched during the Transform Africa Summit 2015, which hosted over 2,500 delegates from 81 countries.

``The Fund aims to provide financial support to our youths who are seeking post-graduate and certification- level training at the continent’s best ICT centres of excellence.

``I am  a keen advocate of the digital skills initiative by the ITU Centres of Excellence Network for Africa which recommends the reservation of a certain percentage of the Universal Service Fund for ‘universal access to digital education’,  he said.

According to him, the ITU Centres of Excellence in Africa strongly canvassed this position in 2016 at the Capacity Building Symposium in Nairobi, Kenya.`

"It is time that we make a bold decision in this direction to provide funding access for the much talked about digital skills literacy by earmarking a proportion of Universal Service Fund (USF)  for digital skills literacy.

"This resonates strongly against the backdrop of indications that surplus balance exist in USFs across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

"A GSMA report in 2014 on the utilization of USFs revealed that over half of the inactive funds (with undisbursed/surplus balances) within the 69 countries studies are based in SSA.

"The report went further to state that, “if it is not possible to disband the majority of the funds and return the monies collected, then these USFs will require significant reform and restructuring in  order to be transformed into functional and effective investment support vehicles for unserved and undeserved areas in SSA,” he said.

One of such reforms should be to invest the funds in digital literacy. Adinde  said as the ITU workshop  in Abuja provided another opportunity to focus discussions on the future of skills and knowledge.

"As we seek to change the African landscape in this era of connected economy, we must take strategic decisions that are implementable within the shortest possible time because of the changing terrain,” he said.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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