From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
All is now set for the 2020 International Conference powered by the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS).
This year’s International Conference would provide a multi-stakeholder forum to examine pertinent considerations in showcasing emerging applications and technologies to achieving fourth industrial revolution that would lead to Sustainable Development, even as engagement opportunities would be explored during the Conference to present and develop effective strategies, creative approaches and practical solutions.
President of the NCS, Prof. Adesina Sodiya made the disclosure at a Zoom Press Conference organised by the body on Monday.
He said: “This year’s International Conference will provide a multi-stakeholder forum to examine pertinent considerations in showcasing emerging applications and technologies to achieving fourth industrial revolution that will lead to Sustainable Development.”
NCS is the umbrella body of all IT professionals, interest groups and stakeholders in Nigeria. With about 15,000 members, spread across all the states of the federation, NCS said it remained the only national IT society with highly-skilful and dependable domain experts in various fields of Information Technology. With major interest groups as (ISPON, ITAN, NiWIIT, ITSSP, AITP, NITPCS) and structural organs (College of Fellows, Chapters, NACOSS), NCS said it is committed to promoting and leapfrogging IT development in Nigeria.
The President of the Group said the conference would hold from Tuesday 11th to Thursday 13th of August 2020 virtually, with the theme “Emerging Applications and Technologies for Industry 4.0 (EATI 2020)”.
According to Sodiya, in the last forty two years of NCS existence, the conference venue has always been rotated amongst the six geopolitical zones in the Country, adding that the 2020 conference was initially scheduled to hold in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Interestingly, this is the first time NCS will be holding virtual Conference in the history of this society. The challenge posed by COVID-19 reaffirms the need for Information Technology Professionals to change their strategies. In fact, Covid-19 has introduced a new normal paradigm shift which the whole is currently battling with.”
He disclosed that the theme of the conference was carefully and scientifically chosen in order to provide the needed technological supports for industries in the modern society.
“Industry 4.0 or the Fourth Industrial revolution is simply about smart manufacturing. The technological components of industry 4.0 are full process and production line automation; intelligent control of cyber-physical systems; and adoption of Internet of things (IoT), robotics, big data analytics, cloud computing, and machine learning. As a nation, our industries must leverage on these technologies for enhanced profitability and economic well-being,” he said.
The conference, according Sodiya would focus on important issues related to the theme and sub themes such as: Innovative Strategies for addressing cybersecurity and privacy challenges in industry 4.0; A New Generation of Cyber Physical Systems in the Era of AI; Identity and Population management strategies for stimulating digital Economy; Youth Innovation and Sustainable Productivity; and Future Learning and the Future University: Academia-Industry collaboration for Industry 4.0.
