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NCS Calls for Closer Collaboration for Knowledge-Based Economy(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has called for closer collaboration among stakeholders in order to build a knowledge-based economy that will help drive development in the country. The call was part of the resolutions reached at the 2014 national conference of NCS held in Enugu recently. According to a communique released at the end of the conference, the NCS insisted that stakeholders need to collaborate to build strong partnerships in the transformation of Nigeria from information society to knowledge-based economy. The group noted that a knowledge-based economy is predicated on the production and dissemination of ideas, and that there is the urgent need to recognise knowledge as a resource that can be codified, registered and made tradable. They harped on the need for a well concerted investment in knowledge production through Information and Communications Technology (ICT). In order to achieve this, NCS has called for immediate domestication and localisation of Nigeria ICT policy through the various tiers of government and across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) of government. The computer society suggested that state-level agencies be created to implement, coordinate and monitor ICT activities geared towards indigenous knowledge production in the 36 states of the federation, including the capital territory, Abuja. The group explained that such state agencies should tap from the wealth of experience of Nigerian IT professionals and practitioners who are members of NCS. They, however, sympathised with the federal government over the various security challenges being faced in the country and noted that the effective use of ICT in intelligence surveillance could assist in arresting terrorists. It also commended the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture for the giant strides being made through the deployment of ICT for agricultural monitoring and information dissemination. This year's conference had as theme: 'Building a Knowledge-Based Economy in Nigeria: The Role of Information Technology'. Presentations were made by speakers drawn from abroad, such as IT professionals, policy makers, academia, industry, businesses, multinationals, government and non-government agencies. In addition there was a special event convened by NITDA that critically discussed the issue of ICT policy for states in Nigeria. NCS was established in 1978 as the umbrella body for all Information technology practitioners in Nigeria. The society comprises various interest groups in the ICT industry, which include the Academia, the Institute for Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), the Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN), the Internet Services Provider Association of Nigeria (ISPAN), Information Technology Systems & Security Professionals (ITSSP), Nigeria Information Technology Professionals in Civil Service (NITCS), Nigerian Women in IT (NiWIIT), and the National Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS). Copyright This Day. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |