Stakeholders Call for Flexible Regulation of IoT Ecosystem in Nigeria

Emma Okonji

Participants at the stakeholders’ consultative forum on emerging technologies yesterday in Lagos, stressed the need for light regulation of all technologies that would drive Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem in Nigeria.

The forum, the first in its series, which was organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had as its theme: ‘Regulatory Roadmap for IoT Ecosystem in Nigeria’.

Stakeholders said the light regulation became necessary, based on the expected increase in data generation by 2025.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, who used the occasion to launch two of the books he authored, promised that government would implement regulatory policies that would enhance growth of Nigeria’s  IoT ecosystem, without stifling it,
According to him, the IoT ecosystem regulation would support privacy and confidentiality of data generation and usage.

The first book is titled ‘Datafication of Society to Foster an Internet Economy’ and the foreword was written by the Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mr. Houlin Zhao, who has had a long distinguished career at the ITU and has served as the Secretary-General since 2014.
The second book is titled ‘Cybersecurity Initiatives for Securing a Country’, with the foreword written by the President of International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), Professor Mike Hinchey, who is a professor of software engineering at the University of Limerick, Ireland and was previously Director of the Software Engineering Laboratory at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Centre in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States of America.

While unveiling the books, Hinchey said data generation would be largely driven by IoT technology and other emerging technologies and that the two books clearly captured the importance of data generation in fostering an internet economy and the initiatives for securing a country’s cybersecurity.
Although experts who spoke during the panel session at the forum, expressed concern about multiple regulations from different regulators and the possible interference of signals from imported devices that could negatively affect IoT technologies, the NCC said the essence of the consultative forum was to discuss the operability of different technologies in the IoT ecosystem in Nigeria.

The Commission assured stakeholders that all interested parties would be involved in taking any decision that could lead to the possible adoption of multi-sectoral regulations and policies that would give adequate protection to all operators and users in the IoT ecosystem.
Members of the panel unanimously agreed that there was need for regulation of the IoT ecosystem, but insisted that such regulation must be light in order not to stifle the IoT technology growth.

In his welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, said in line with the Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025, which include facilitating the provision of infrastructure for digital economy, among others, the Commission has continued to conduct studies on emerging technologies and their spectrum and regulatory requirement to ensure adequate  availability of spectrum for current and future use, devoid of any harmful interference.

According to him, “IoT is increasingly becoming important in the scheme of activities across most sectors of the economy which includes Education, Security, Military Reconnaissance, Commerce, Governance, Inventory Management, Health, Surveillance, Smart City Initiatives etc.

The applications of IoT are far-reaching. In the home, IoT can be used for home automation and control, lighting, temperature measurement, entertainment amongst others.

“Similarly, in industrial settings, Internet of Things unites assets, advanced analytics and workers by using connected industrial devices to monitor, collect, exchange, and analyze insights to drive faster and better decision making.  Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can be used to track inventory, improve the monitoring of product quality, and automate factories to make them run more efficiently.”

With the advent of 5G technology, we are going to witness another dimension in the IoT Ecosystem as 5G technology is going to enable massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC). GSMA Intelligence forecasts that IoT connections will reach almost 25 billion globally by 2025. With this pace of growth, it has become imperative to prepare for the regulation of this important technology,” Danbatta further said.