The Director-General of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), Dr. DanAzumi Ibrahim has called on both government and private establishments to devote a large chunk of their budget to the development of ICT sector for socio-economic growth of the country.
Dr. Ibrahim made the call as one of the panelists in the just concluded National Dialogue on Telecoms and Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria with the theme, “Harnessing the Digital Resources for the Building of our National Economy”, in Abuja organized by the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON).
A statement by NOTAP on Tuesday said he explained that the Information and Communication Technology sector had become a pioneer and dependable catalyst in addressing the needs and interests of developing countries like Nigeria and needed an improved and sustained budgetary allocation to thrive.
The D-G stated that though globally ICT has been perceived as the major ingredient for socio-economic development, powering every functional society especially the developing countries, Nigeria still depends largely on foreign ICT providers to power her economy.
Dr. Ibrahim further stated that NOTAP as a technology regulatory agency sometimes approves some technology transfer agreements with pain, considering the huge amount of money expended by Nigerian entrepreneurs in acquiring foreign software that powers their businesses.
He revealed that the world is vastly been taken over by digital economy which is powered by ICT and if Nigeria does not come to speed with the rest of the world, it will continue to be a spectator in the global technology ecosystem than a major player.
He said as a stakeholder in technology development in Nigeria, NOTAP is working closely with the knowledge institutions by establishing Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) in some selected knowledge institutions. He added that the reason for establishing IPTTOs was to create awareness on the importance of investing and carrying out market and demand-driven research instead of engaging in researches for the purposes of publication and career progression.
The D-G said that the IPTTOs programme started in 2006 with the establishment of six centers in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and has since progressed both in number and capacity to 43 IPTTOs across the six geopolitical zones of the country.
