Activities towards hosting Nigeria’s premier technology show for this year, the e-Nigeria 2016, have kicked off with the formal inauguration of the Local Organising Committee for the event by the acting Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Vincent Olatunji.
The eNigeria Conference and Expo, now in its ninth year, is the flagship ICT event organised by NITDA under the Ministry of Communications as the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s leading technology event focusing on all critical aspects of technology for national development.
Inaugurating the 2016 eNigeria LOC in Abuja, Dr. Olatunji said the event has gone full circle to become the clearinghouse for adopting relevant ideas and innovation for defining and accelerating national economic growth.
“It is in this line that this year’s theme is ‘Leveraging on IT Innovation for Economic Diversification’ to identify with the current goals of the Nigerian government to diversify the economy, cope with the rapid dwindling revenues from the oil sector, and create a new vista of revenue directly through ICT or by using ICT to aid other non-oil sectors,” he said.
Represented by NITDA’s Deputy Director of Corporate Strategy and Research, Mr. Mohammad Idris Yelwa at the inauguration, Dr. Olatunji revealed that the eNigeria 2016 is scheduled for 22nd -24th November, at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Abuja. It is expected to attract key players of the Nigerian innovation ecosystem and foreign stakeholders together to share experiences, identify challenges and propose strategies for using ICT-enabled innovation and entrepreneurship to diversify the economy and create jobs.
One of the highlights of the eNigeria 2016 is the section on Startups and Innovation to underscore NITDA’s new work-thrust to promote Nigeria’s startup innovation ecosystem across all the country’s zones and also attract potential investors into this vital growth segment of the global ICT economy.
“We are inviting innovation efforts from within Africa to come peer with local innovation efforts and also inviting global stakeholders, particularly angel investors and promoters of innovator hubs to be part of the 2016 eNigeria as we in NITDA firm up to promote the national agenda on economic diversification,” said Olatunji while tasking LOC members to ensure a successful event.
eNigeria has become a flagship conference and expo and this year, NITDA plans to have global and local players with strong startup-pull such as Uber, Facebook, Jumia, Konga and the likes to join the league of participants at the event. NITDA will also be leveraging on its local and international collaborations such as its partnership with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) organisers of Gitex Technology Week to thicken the quality of participation at eNigeria, said Dr. Olatunji.
According to a statement announcing the inauguration of the LOC, and signed by NITDA’s Head, Corporate Affairs, Mrs. Hadiza Umar, the LOC has sub-committees that include Paper presentation, exhibition and fundraising, media and publicity, and startups, among others to help effective preparation for the event. The membership of the LOC is drawn from various bodies, including the Nigeria Computer Society, representatives of relevant government ministries, departments and agencies, the media, interest groups and other stakeholders.