Johnson to declare open A4AI-Nigeria Coalition Tuesday

 ITRealms:

The recently appointed Honorary Chairperson of Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)-Nigeria Coalition and the immediate past Minister of Communication Technology, Dr Omobola Johnson, would on Tuesday, November 24, declare open (A4AI) stakeholders meeting in Lagos, ITRealms reports.

In a press release by the Communications Officer, World Wide Web Foundation, Lauran Potter, she said that the Internet and the access to information and services that comes with it has become a key component of everyday life in many countries.

Johnson spoke preparatory to her opening a meeting of stakeholders working to increase access to affordable Internet in Nigeria. The Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI)-Nigeria Coalition will convene at the Victoria Crown Plaza Hotel to discuss ongoing efforts to reduce broadband prices in the country, and to deliberate best practices for overcoming key obstacles to improved affordability.

ITRealms  gathered that Dr Johnson who will be joined at the meeting by Dr Ernest Ndukwe, former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian National Communications Commission (NCC), who currently serves as the National Coordinator for the A4AI-Nigeria Coalition, said, “the importance of expanding access to affordable broadband so that all Nigeria’s citizens can come online cannot be overstated. I look forward to working with the A4AI-Nigeria Coalition to ensure that we develop and advocate for the policies needed to ensure Internet for all.”

Low levels of affordability remain a significant barrier to Internet and broadband access in Nigeria, where just over 42 per cent of citizens are online. A recent study by A4AI – the world’s broadest technology sector coalition working to bring down the price of broadband – revealed that Nigeria does not meet the UN target of entry-level broadband priced at 5 per cent or less of average income for those living in poverty.  

The A4AI-Nigeria Coalition comprises over 100 stakeholders from across Nigeria’s public, private, and civil society sectors, who are working together to tackle barriers to affordability in Nigeria, including pricing transparency, infrastructure sharing, and consumer awareness. This meeting will mark the group’s third since the Coalition was formed in March 2014, and will be opened by DrOmobola Johnson, who was recently appointed Honorary Chairperson of A4AI, ITRealms learnt.

Ndukwe said, “The A4AI-Nigeria Coalition has been hard at work since March 2014 debating the primary barriers to increased Internet access and affordability in Nigeria and the best ways to overcome these challenges. We have worked with the Federal Ministry of Communications and Nigerian Communications Commission to monitor TV white spaces trials and develop appropriate policy recommendations; drafted a document that spells out the benefits of the Internet to sensitise users and non-users; and developed policy recommendations to improve infrastructure sharing and the use of open access across Nigeria.

“Yet much work remains to make affordable Internet across Nigeria a reality. This meeting will allow us the unique opportunity to assess our progress to date, and to determine priorities and next steps for our work going forward. We look forward to sharing our conclusions with you after the meeting, and to continuing our work toward the important goal of universal access,” he concluded.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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ICT tools instrumental to containing Ebola virus in Nigeria- Johnson

ITRealms:

The Minister of Communication Technology, Dr. (Mrs) Omobola Johnson has disclosed that a combination of social media tools were instrumental in Nigeria’s fight to contain the Ebola virus, reports ITRealms.

Dr. Johnson disclosed this in a policy statement delivered at the ongoing International Telecommunications Union ITU 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-14) in Busan, Republic of Korea. ITRealms gathered that Johnson told delegates made up of Ministers and senior government officials from across the globe, that with Ebola, time is of essence to the fact that mobile device apps helped in reducing reporting times of infections by 75 per cent.

“Test results were scanned to tablets and uploaded to emergency databases and field teams got text message alerts on their phones informing them of the results,” she revealed.

Dr. Johnson reiterated that the combination of the internet and mobile cellular phones has opened up tremendous opportunities for countries like Nigeria.

The vertical increase in mobile use, according to Johnson is driven by a number of factors, particularly, the additional ways in which mobile phones are being used in Nigeria. 

She stressed that beyond conducting voice conversations, mobile phones are often the preferred channel for receiving data and for conducting transactions in Nigeria thereby making phones an indispensable tool used as-cameras, wallets, shops, music players, movie screens, and information or service centres of Nigerians.

Nigeria’s policy focus Johnson noted, is in step with the reality of the mobile internet revolution spreading across the globe- thus, the Ministry of Communication Technology is looking to create a viable environment for the proliferation of lower priced devices, increased investment in network infrastructure, and increased availability of spectrum for mobile broadband, in the knowledge that these will further drive growth in the nation’s ICT sector.

Johnson also disclosed that through the implementation of the National ICT Policy, National Broadband Roadmap, and Guidelines for Nigerian Content in ICT, the Ministry is bringing greater clarity and predictability to the Nigerian ICT sector.

She stated that in the past four years, Nigeria has seen mobile subscription increase from 87 million active SIM cards to over 131 million and mobile internet subscription stood at 67 million as at June 2014.

The Ministry’s policy framework, Johnson said aligns with the ITU’s Strategic Plan for 2016-2019, particularly its identified goals and targets of growth, inclusiveness, sustainability, and innovation and partnership.

The ICT sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s GDP is growing and was about 10.44 per cent in 2013. The sector also indirectly impacts GDP through its influence on other key sectors; for example, in the 2013, ICTs were responsible for 12.05 per cent of the value added by the Finance and Insurance sector to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 

In terms of social growth, Mrs. Johnson said that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are helping government to meet health objectives, and are amplifying benefits in the education and agriculture sectors.

The ITU’s growth priority of enabling and fostering access to and increased use of telecommunications through ICTs, according to Johnson, therefore, resonates with Nigeria, both economically and socially.

Nigeria, she said, is also using telecommunications and ICT tools to build a more inclusive society. Just as the Broadband initiative which Nigeria is currently implementing across technologies and at various levels of governance, are in line with the Union’s priority of bridging the digital divide and providing broadband for all. 

ITRealms further gathered from Mrs. Johnson that these initiatives are cognisant of the needs of women and girls, as well as other marginalised groups of the Nigerian society.

 +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +Efem Nkanga @NGRCommTech @NgComCommission @ITU #Nigeria
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Pix: Dr. (Mrs) Omobola Johnson