Excerpts:
Q: What, in your opinion, is the role of ICT in economic growth/development; what specific challenges exist for developing countries?
I would not differentiate between developing and developed countries when it comes to the role of or need for ICT, because today, as you know, we have one connected world that is compelled to embrace the reality that sees civilization moving at great speed.
The phenomenon of a wired world itself creates common desires everywhere for developments that improve the lives of people everywhere as we all patently share a common humanity. The details or peculiarities may be different; relevant to context but it involves people everywhere desiring progress for them selves.
This means that whatever can be considered as good for making living better in one country would be desired by others everywhere. It is all about the human race and the ICT race collaborating to propel the world in rapid advancement through solutions for any and every challenge the world faces today and in the future. In fact the very media and markets in which these solutions are transacted are facilitated by ICT. Nigeria must flow in the global ICT current.
Q: To what extent would you say Nigeria has leveraged global and local development opportunities created by ICT?
At BICS, we appreciate the shift that the world is progressively making into the knowledge economy; beyond the industrial economy that we have had till now. The industrial economy has resulted in the capacity for so much mass production that we now have arguably a surplus of some goods; leading to commoditization and with this, the implication of dwindling margins for many producers and sellers of these goods. This evidently has adverse implications for national economies.
Next is that consumers are growing more sophisticated in their tastes, even as the world advances. And so the natural direction is now for growth in innovation and creativity in exploiting new opportunities.
We therefore scanned the world to see how we could plug into the knowledge network as a business. And the search led us to connect with NIIT.
Our partnership at BICS with NIIT with its roots in India is quite telling. With Nigeria having so much in common with India, the partnership is a testament to the strategy of leveraging global best ICT learning practices in order to meet the development needs of our nation.
First of all, it has to do with our appraisal of the capacity of our national workforce vis-a-vis its ability to meet the development goals that the nation seeks to achieve. Today, the excellent credentials of India in this regard is well known.
And just as India has done, we also now acknowledge that there is the need to bridge the gap between dream and achievement.
Q: BICS-NIIT recently signed an MOU with the FCSC on capacity building in ICT; what are the factors that necessitated that agreement?
It is essentially to help the Federal Civil Service to have the adequate capacity that will satisfy the demands by the Federal Government of Nigeria; to meet the goals for Vision 2020.
The FCSC initiative to train the civil servants of the Federation is a direct response to the Government’s call for Capacity development because technology as the driving engine for world economies can no longer be undermined.
To this end, the FCSC has set up a program themed Our company Basic Information and Communication Systems Limited (BICS) in collaboration with NIIT – a world renowned HR and ICT education Institute- has responded to this administration’s call to drive the economy through capacity building. In line with this, there are now 35 education centres, with a total capacity of 10,000, spread across the different states of the Federation and are available for capacity development from time to time.
We have also recently concluded a training contract for the World Bank tagged ACCESS Nigeria. (Part of a program directed at developing new economy skills for Africa.)
It is worthwhile to note our partnership with NIIT because the institution has been fully engaged with leading and developing countries of the world in developing ICT skills of their work force, which is the engine that drives economic development.
Q: Could you shed more light on the implications of that deal?
We see our service offering from BICS-NIIT as an opportunity to contribute to the achievement of Nigeria’s national development goals. When you consider that the Civil Service is the backbone of governance, you can see why we are delighted.
NIIT has demonstrated competence in their ICT learning solutions to China and South Africa, among other countries of the world.
We see that there is yet more to be done here and with our humble contribution, we are poised to see a Civil Service that is ICT- competent to global standards; as we pursue or mission to become the company of first referral in ICT learning in Nigeria.
Q: In what ways would you say your background and persuasions would impact on capacity building in ICT?
On a personal note, I am also involved in the hospitality business and we have a capacity building initiative for the hospitality industry as well. Therefore, you can see a thread here.
Like many entrepreneurs in this part of the world, opportunities and resources were not in abundance when I was growing up. So I know, first hand, the struggle that life can be when you need to bridge the gap between dreams and the achievement of those dreams.
I have been blessed to have travelled quite a bit to many places around the globe and this opened my eyes to the hotel industry; or the wider hospitality industry if you will.
Travel sparked my interest in the diversity of cultures and experiences. I’ll tell you the truth; I actually have become a collector of experiences. But then a pain grew in my consciousness for the lack of quality and service delivery that is the lot in most of my own continent; Africa. That is how I became committed to giving opportunity to young people who are interested in the vocations that are dear to my heart. With God’s help, I want to contribute to raising people from poverty to purpose; with regards to assistance for these young people to fulfill their dreams.
It is what led me into the events and hotel business; with Planet One as our first expression. And to be equipped to deliver to the standards of my dream, we went into partnership with Ecole Hoteliere de Laussane, one the world’s premium hospitality learning institutions. So you can see a thread. I am persuaded that we must live as people with dignity and this requires that whatever we do must be to the best standards. So, forming strategic alliances with the best institutions globally is the best strategy to help us to deliver the best for Africa. This is my persuasion.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Marcel Mbamalu
Quelle/Source: The Guardian Nigeria, 05.08.2012
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