The construction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) parks across the six-geo political zones of the country has continued to attract commendation from high and mighty in the society.
The park which is an initiative of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under the leadership of Prof. Umar Garba danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, when completed is to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.
Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, was the latest to hail the commission and its leadership for the initiative.
Ganduje, according to Sahelian Times who visited the site of North-Western zone located in Kano State, hailed the Danbatta-led NCC management for the initiative.
He also posited that the initiative will trigger socio-economic transformation of the area in no distant future.
Ganduje said, “Realising that a major project that resonates with the global vision for the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is being vigorously driven by NCC leadership, shows the kind of socio-economic transformation we should expect through ICT across Nigeria in the next few years.
“For the ICT Park being built here in Kano to serve the North-West zone, the government and citizens of Kano State are grateful to Prof. Danbatta and his team for bringing development to the state and the zone at large.”
He also applauded the quality of the construction work being undertaken by the NCC on the ICT Park and expressed appreciation for the foresight of the NCC for accommodating an expansion plan at the project site.
The Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) will provide a Commercial Hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills, create employment and entrepreneurial activities and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial Complex.
The ICT Park consists of laboratories for ICT innovations and Commercial Hubs providing capacity building to ICT startups and entrepreneurial activities, in Kano State.
The parks are designed to provide fast internet service (broadband) and constant power supply.
ICT park which comprises an area or location with concentration of all ICT facilities, which enables a concerted leap into the digital age by creating a dynamic environment in which local talent is incubated, cultivated, and shared, when completed, it is expected to address the needs of technology-intensive, knowledge-based Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Speaking on the ICT Parks project recently, Prof Danbatta stated that the project was conceived and designed to support the federal government’s ICT-related policies and programmes by facilitating the availability and accessibility of ICT services across the country, promote their usage across all sectors and ultimately address youth unemployment in the country.
Designed to propel socio-economic transformation in the country, the EVC said the ICT Parks will help build capacity for the teeming population of Nigerian youths in the area of skill acquisition and innovation by complementing existing initiatives geared towards accelerating socio-economic transformation of Nigeria.
“The whole idea of putting these two things (i.e. skill acquisition and innovation) at the forefront of this very important initiative is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for themselves and for other Nigerians,” he said.
Danbatta said based on its national structural spread, no part of the country will be left out as beneficiaries of the initiative. “The NCC ICT Parks Project is another move by the current leadership of the Commission to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the Federal Government,” he said.
He said the parks will support software development, incubation and hardware development. “We also hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the Commission is deepening in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies.”
Danbatta urged the potential and would-be beneficiaries of the project, especially the youths, to be ready to leverage the initiative as it promises to empower them socially and economically.
“I would like to send out a very important message to our youths, especially those who are currently occupied with various innovative applications, those who have acquired the skills but are looking for where to put the skills fruitful engagements, by incubating them, commercialising them, or giving publicity to these excellent initiatives, to be ready to leverage the facilities,” he stated.
The ICT Park in Kano is expected to be completed and inaugurated at the end of the year.
