Nigeria adopts Indian model for software development

Software development centres are high-tech centres where softwares can be produced from scratch to finish.

India is said to have the highest development capacity in the world and its software industry is said to have brought about a tremendous success for the emerging economy. The software industry is the main component of the Information Technology in India.

India’s pool of young aged manpower is the key behind this success story. The Indian software industry grew from a mere $ 150 million in 1991-92 to a staggering $ 5.7 billion in 1999-2000. No other Indian industry has performed so well against the global competition.

The India software industry generated a total employment of around four million people, which accounts for seven per cent of India’s total GDP, in the year 2008.

Today, the software industry in India exports software and services to nearly 95 countries around the world.

At a briefing for the forthcoming e-Nigeria 2010 summit, Director General of the National Information Development Agency (NITDA), Prof. Cleopas Angaye stressed that Nigeria had studied the Indian successes story and had identified the establishment of software development centres as the strategy towards achieving that.

He said: “Nigeria has local software companies, most of them are not recognised, many are not patronised. Many develop good softwares, take them abroad, repackage them and re-send them into Nigeria for use.”

According to him, “the centre will ensure international standard, co-ordinate the software development, needs assessment, maintenance, trainings, in line with the Indian example. The centres in India are better than our own universities down here. These packages will help develop our country. We also want to provide ICT infrastructure in 18 Nigerian universities to aid the development of good local Information Technology capacity.”

Meanwhile, a new regime that would see electronic evidence tenderable in course is set to unfold as the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, has repackaged an e-Transaction bill and sent to the National Assembly for action.

With the proposed Cyber Security Bill, the e-Transaction bill would ensure that those who commit cyber related crimes do not have any loopholes to escape judgment.