The Executive Secretary ATCON, Godwin Morgan, noted that it was regrettable that despite the high number of ICT professionals in the country, adequate attention had not been paid to the issue of developing and building local content.
He said that though attempts were being made by a few concerned professionals in the area of developing local content in both the hardware and software aspect of ICT, much still needed to be done to achieve the desired progress and position the country for global competitiveness.
Morgan said: "ATCON strongly believes that for Nigeria to truly boast technological advancements in the ICT sector, concerted efforts must be geared towards initiatives that would facilitate or enhance local content development both in the software and hardware aspects of ICT.
"It is in this light that ATCON is partnering with industry operators and stakeholders in hosting this summit to examine the prospects and challenges of developing Nigerian content for our ICT industry."
He revealed that ATCON has enlisted the participation of many public institutions and private sector organisations to ensure effective involvement of public policy makers for the summit billed for April in Lagos. They include the Ministry of Information and Communication; Ministry of Science & Technology; National Information Technology Development Agency, Nigerian Communications Commission and Universal Service Provision Fund.
Others are ICT professional associations and firms, banks and non-bank financial institutions, local and foreign development agencies, ICT solutions providers, small and medium enterprise development agency of Nigeria, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture
Said he: "Our local ICT infrastructure providers should be granted some measure of protection against their multinational counterparts, whose corporate strength and investment muscle could pose serious threats to the survival of the local players. The local hardware and software developers must be given adequate support to enable them grow, expand and continue to provide employment to millions of Nigerians, thus helping to eradicate poverty across our land."
Published courtesy of
