By Eyo Nsima
The Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has commended the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), under the leadership of its Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, for building Information and Communication Technology (ICT) parks across the six-geo political zones of the country.
Speaking during a recent visit to the site of the ongoing construction of an ICT Park by the Commission for the North-Western zone located in Kano State, he said: “Realising that a major project that resonates with the global vision for the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is being vigorously driven by NCC leadership, shows the kind of socio-economic transformation we should expect through ICT across Nigeria in the next few years.
“For the ICT Park being built here in Kano to serve the North-West zone, the government and citizens of Kano State are grateful to Prof. Danbatta and his team for bringing development to the state and the zone at large.”
He also applauded the quality of the construction work being undertaken by the NCC on the ICT Park and expressed appreciation for the foresight of the NCC for accommodating an expansion plan at the project site.
The ICT Park is an initiative of Professor Danbatta, to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.
The Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) will provide a Commercial Hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills to create employment and entrepreneurial activities and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial Complex.
The ICT Park consists of laboratories for ICT innovations and Commercial Hubs providing capacity building to ICT startups and entrepreneurial activities, in Kano State.
The parks are designed to provide fast internet service (broadband) and a constant power supply.
ICT park comprises an area or location with a concentration of all ICT facilities, which enables a concerted leap into the digital age by creating a dynamic environment in which local talent is incubated, cultivated, and shared. ICT park is the best tested and trusted institutional mechanism to address the needs of technology-intensive, knowledge-based Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
The NCC ICT Parks, which are being built across the six geo-political zones of the country, involves the construction and equipping of fully functional Tier-4 Digital Industrial Complex (DIC) in each of the six geo-political zones of the country.
The ICT Park consists of laboratories for ICT innovations and Commercial Hubs providing capacity building to ICT start-ups and entrepreneurial activities. The Parks are designed to have fast internet service (broadband) and a constant power supply.
The digital parks are to provide Innovation Labs and Digital Fabrication Laboratories (Fablabs) for use by ICT innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into products and prototypes.
The parks will also provide a Commercial Hub for ICT capacity building and digital skills; create employment and entrepreneurial activities, and facilitate smart city deployment across the Digital Industrial complex.
Commenting on the ICT Parks project recently, Prof Danbatta had stated that the project was conceived and designed to support the federal government’s ICT-related policies and programmes by facilitating the availability and accessibility of ICT services across the country, promote their usage across all sectors and ultimately address youth unemployment in the country.
He had, said: “The whole idea of putting these two things (i.e. skill acquisition and innovation) at the forefront of this very important initiative is to produce youths that can be self-reliant, generate employment for themselves and for other Nigerians.
“The NCC ICT Parks Project is another move by the current leadership of the Commission to boost youth digital skills acquisition, promote innovations, provide jobs for the teeming Nigerian youth and ultimately support the overall digital economy agenda of the Federal Government.
“We also hope to see innovative technologies that will leverage the broadband network, which the Commission is deepening in order to socially and economically transform our communities and societies.
“I would like to send out a very important message to our youths, especially those who are currently occupied with various innovative applications, those who have acquired the skills but are looking for where to put the skills fruitful engagements, by incubating them, commercializing them, or giving publicity to these excellent initiatives, to be ready to leverage the facilities.”
