NITDA to advance Nigeria’s quest for technology advancement via Gitex

THE Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Peter Jack, has said that the agency would use the Gulf Information and Technology Exhibition (GITEX) conference to advance the nation’s quest for technological development.
 
Speaking at the a preparatory meeting for GITEX 2015 Technology week billed for October 18-22, in Dubai, Jack observed that Nigeria needed to be a major player in the IT sector globally intead of being used as a dumping ground.
   
He noted that with a population of over 170 million, Nigeria is a huge market for ICT adding that it is time for Nigeria to take its place in the technological landscape.
   
The DG noted that some Indian companies had expressed interest to partner NITDA to execute the Smart City Project adding that during the last GITEX outing, a number of people were at NITDA stand to express interest in partnering with Nigerian companies.
   
He said: “We realized that it will be a good idea to call all the stakeholders to a preparatory meeting for obvious reasons. It is a good thing that stakeholders agree on what we intend to achieve at Dubai. The truth of the matter is that Nigeria is now next destination for outsourcing business because the leaders in outsourcing are no longer competitive in terms of investors’ consideration. That makes Nigeria the best destination for outsourcing”.
   
According to him, “in terms of achievement of past Gitex, what has happened is that most of the StartUps at previous Gitex were successful in investment and of course most of who have potential investments are already in talks with these investors.

What we are trying to do now is to see where by this initial engagement how these Start Ups can get support by liaising with potential investors before the main event start.