NDSF 2016: Nigerian youths charged to turn ICT challenges into opportunities

ITRealms:

The over 1,000 participants at the 2016 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum series recently ended in Lagos, with Nigerian youths charged to turn challenges in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector into opportunities, reports ITRealms.

A copy of the communique made available to ITRealms by the convener and Executive Director, Operations, DigitalSENSE Africa Media, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, noted that there are opportunities within every challenge.

She said, participants, made up of stakeholders, Internet service providers, electronic payment providers, cyber security professionals, students, youths and Internet Protocol gurus, pointed out that Nigeria has rich cultural heritage and indigenous knowledge; hence tourism apps could come up to document these heritages for use by visitors coming to Nigeria.

The communique also stated that development of social media in Nigerian languages is another opportunity, same with the gaming industry.

“There is also the opportunity to deepen citizen participation in governmental process and enhance public service delivery.

“Nigeria should embrace the great potentials in her human and natural resources and leverage on it to create services and products for Internet Protocol version Six (IPv6) compliance to address our local challenges,” part of the communique read.

On the way forward, participants agreed that there is need for everyone to get connected to the internet.

“There is need for network and content operators to make their networks and websites available over both IPv4 and IPv6 for the foreseeable future so that everyone can access the Internet whether they are using an IPv4 or an IPv6 address,” the communique stated, stressing that the internet is a public resource and people should be careful about what they post to avoid assault.

Participants also called for a stronger cyber laws to be enacted and implemented to prevent and curtail cybercrimes, pointing out that there is a great need to develop apps as well as capacity to help ensure cyber safety.

“Government at all levels should encourage e-governance as this will help in tracking government activities through the social media; it will also give people access to participate in governance thereby encouraging transparency and efficiency,” part of the communique read.

Emphasising, those young graduates should realize they are the architects of their own future and as such, they should learn early enough to take their destinies into their own hands as it concerns ICT and its usage.

The two-day forum was in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Galaxy Backbone, MTN Nigeria, SystemSpecs, Phase3 Telecoms, Airtel Nigeria among others, with endorsement from various industry interest groups.

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NDSF 2016: CSEAN, DigitalSENSE Africa unveil Stop, Think, Connect campaign

ITRealms:

The Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has partnered DigitalSENSE Africa Media on the national cybersecurity awareness campaign tagged Stop, Think, Connect (STC) with the unveiling at the 2016 Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum (NDSF) series, last Friday, reports ITRealms.

The unveiling was part of the two-day NDSF 2016 was graced by the National President of CSEAN, Mr. Remi Afon, who led dignitaries at the forum to the unveiling told participants that CSEAN is a non-profit organisation made up of information security professionals championing awareness on best practices, and acting as an agent of change to address cybercrime phenomena through engaging intellectual minds, business and political leaders.

Afon also told participants at the Day-2 of NDSF 2016 which was used to host the Nigeria Internet Protocol version Six (IPv6) Roundtable, noted that with the kind of fast internet expected with IPv6 evolution, the unveiling of Stop, Think, Connect, is very apt.

He explained that the Stop-Think-Connect campaign’s overarching goal is to help internet users understand not only the risks that come with using the Internet, but also the importance of practicing safe online behavior.

Pointing out that CSEAN is a global partner of Stop-Think-Connect and aims to roll out the campaign in all nook and corners of Nigeria, stressing that his team have started rolling out the campaign in tertiary institutions and secondary schools.

Commending the management of DigitalSENSE Africa, the organisers of the Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) and Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable for partnering CSEAN on this campaign, Mr. Afon outlined some of the key concerns to include issues affecting every Internet users, cyberbullying.

“Cyberbullying is bullying that happens online. It can happen in an email, a text message, an online game, or on a social networking site. It might involve rumors or images posted on someone’s profile or passed around for other people to see,” he said.

CSEAN president also advised participants to be weary of bullying, asserting “Don’t stand for bullying—online or off. Treat others the way you want to be treated—whether you’re interacting with them online, on your phone or in person.

Further, he urged participants made up youths and students to always speak up, mostly when they see something inappropriate on a social networking site or in a game or chat room, let the website know and tell an adult “you trust” by using ‘Report Abuse’ links which could help keep sites fun for everyone.

On his part, the Lead Strategist, DigitalSENSE Africa, Mr. Remmy Nweke said that the partnership is meant to further stimulate the vision of DigitalSENSE group to stimulate consciousness on the public, especially in Nigeria and among the youths and students on positive use of the Internet rather than the notorious yahoo, yahoo syndrome.

This, he said, would in addition help in discovering future ethical information security professionals by catching them young for a better Internet eco-system from this part of the world.

Okoli Vincent/GEE

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Pix: L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, Mr. Muhammed Rudman; General Manager, Information Security, National Identity Management Commission, Mr. Emmanuel Ogungbe; President, cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria, Mr. Remi Afon;  Executive Director, Operations DigitalSENSE Africa, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke; Chairman of the Occasion, President, Nigeria Computer Society,  Prof. Adesola Aderounmu; Senior Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano on Social Media, AnambraState, Mr. Ifeanyi  Aniagoh;  Broadband and Converged Solution Phas3Telecom, Mr. Remi Adedoyin; during the unveiling the Stop Think Connect at Closing Ceremony of 2 day 2016DigitalSENSE Africa Forum in Lagos.