NCS Harps on Technology to Achieve Sustainable Devt

Emma Okonji

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has stressed the need for Nigerians to embrace technology that would drive sustainable development in the country.

President of NCS, Prof. Shola Aderounmu, who made the call in Lagos while addressing the media on the 27th national conference of the computer society, billed to hold from July 17th to 19th in Ibadan, Oyo State, said NCS would use the conference to advocate on the need for Nigerians, especially government, to invest in technology that would enable the country achieve sustainable development.

With the right technology, Nigeria can eradicate poverty in the country and empower its citizens to do more, Aderounmu said.
According to him, majority of Nigerians, including governments at various levels were of the view that the country lacks enough job opportunities for its growing population.

He, however, disagreed with such widely perceived notion, insisting that there are lots of jobs that people could engage themselves with, especially technology related jobs.

“What the country needs is a pool of trained personnel that will do the jobs. There is a wide gap between the academia and the industry and we are working towards closing such gap such that the school system should be able to train students in line with industry needs, so that as soon as students graduate from school, they will be able to fit in with industry requirements,” Aderounmu said.
“These and other issues will be discussed at the conference and possible solutions proffered on how to create jobs for sustainable development, using the right technologies,” Aderounmu added.

With the conference theme: ‘Digital Inclusion: Opportunities, Challenges, and Strategies,’ dignitaries are expected to grace the event from government, private and educational sectors, as well as from the international and global information technology (IT) environment, to proffer solutions to Nigerian challenges, the NCS president said.

According to Aderounmu, the conference would focus on important issues related to the theme and sub themes such as: Poverty Eradication and Job Creation in the rural Economy; Internet and Broadband for All; e-agriculture, e-health, e-education for inclusion. Others are: Software and Local Content; Digital Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women; Tech Startup, SME and Youth Enterpreneurship; E-Voting and Election Management, among others.

Chairman, Education and Manpower Committee, NCS, Mr. Rogba Adeoye said through the conference, society and its members would again seize the initiative and play a major role in setting the national digital inclusion agenda.