BLESSING OSAYAMWEN
As global economies continue to explore innovations and emerging technologies to drive growth and sustainable development, experts at DigiVation Future Summit and Awards 2024 have been unanimous in their calls for a new approach to repositioning Nigeria for the prospect of harnessing the nation's digital and economic potentials. The forum with the broad theme: Governance, Policy, Innovation and Future Economy.
The event which was held at the prestigious Radisson Blu Hotel, GRA Ikeja Lagos on Thursday August 22, 2024, was part of event to commemorate DigiVation at 25th anniversary.
The Lead Speaker at the event Tim Akano, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, New Horizons, a global renowned training and capacity building organisation set the tone for the conversation. Akano gave insights to Nigeria and indeed Africa's urgent need to rework its priorities to moved from the era of natural resources to knowledge resources through research, development and implementation.
According toAkano, "In fact, time is against us to meet up with the rest of the progressive world, China, Singapore, India, the United States of America and a host of Western economies have made significant progress in their quest to strategically reap the benefits of innovation with consistent policy approach, well structured implementation plans and visionary leadership."
Akano added that today's educational curriculum in Nigeria was unsuitable to the future of work or a sustainable economy given the obvious lacuna that makes it hyper theoretical and unsuitable for the presen digital revolution sweeping across the modern world.
The Moderator of the Panel Session, Hilary Damissah, brought to the fore his analytical media depth on the topic: "Leveraging Policy and Governance to Accelerate Innovation for a Sustainable Future" he interrogated the speakers and extracted their thoughts on the subject matter eliciting very enriching conversation.
In his submission, Peter Ukeme of Xpress Payment Solutions, stated that innovation was only possible where policy remains consistent and regulatory apparatus of government is designed not to stiffle innovative solutions and services.
On his part, Timothy Ajayi who represented the Director General of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO), Dr Jumai Adamu Tutuwa, argued that building a sustainable future is dependent on better funding of Research and Development with practical commitment to execution and crucial linkages between the town and gown which represents the industry and the academic institutions.
"Nigeria doesn't lack policies for development, the biggest challenge is implementation and continuity of good ones while we also need to wholistically avoid replicating models from other parts of the world with specific and careful consideration for our peculiar environment," he concluded.
While sharing his views, veteran Nollywood actor and Panelist at the Summit, Yemi Solade, submitted that the invasion of technology has made everyone a part of the new media.
He cited how social media can earn a person a job, fame and skills overnight through content creations and the likes. Even in the movie industry, Mr Yemi examined how the days of manual marketing became eroded and movies are now being marketed directly through the aid of social media.
He submitted that, ‘the future economy is here to stay and is driven mainly by the youths or the GenZs as a lot of Nigerians are no longer waiting for the government.
However, he expressed reservations in some aspects ‘My fear is the erosion of culture as being engineered by the GenZs, most of them lack respect for elders, for constituted authorities, for royalties and even for clergies.’ Mr Solade stated.
He blamed the attitude decadence of Youths on the family unit, especially for parents who do not have tangible time for parenting their wards.
Notwithstanding, Mr. Solade appraised and encouraged youths who have used Social Media to become better persons and urged others who are not getting it right to learn from those who are getting it right.
Adding his voice from the United States, a virtual speaker and innovator Engr Fisayo, founder of eSMint called for concerted efforts for Nigeria and Africa to develop solutions reflecting our uniqueness with global market and appeal. It noted that it was the only way the continent can stand tall rather than just being a consumer centric people.
In his conclusion, Hilary Damissah, the Project Coordinator, reiterated the importance of the event adding that sub-saharan Africa faces critical challenges for digital development, including underdeveloped digital infrastructure, lack of assessable and affordable connectivity, a wide digital gender gap, lack of requisite skills for digitally enabled economy and adequate regulatory and policy environment.
He expressed optimism that critical to tackling these issues and challenges was the need to driving policies that will shape the future.
DigiVation Future Summit is a multi sectoral event that brings together people from diverse background to discuss issues reshaping today and future economies.
