Day three of the ICTEL Expo will be remembered for one thing- the passion with which the speakers discussed the role of ICT in business growth and efficiency. Thought-provoking insights and inspiring words flowed freely from the panel made up of seasoned experts who spoke in clear terms about the urgent need for Nigeria’s businesses to embrace ICT.
One of the speakers was Professor William Onifade of the Department of Computer Science, University of Ibadan. He talked about businesses’ use of big data. From the onset, he pointed out that unless large scale businesses leverage on their size to make effective use of big data, they might become inefficient. Professor Onifade noted that unless big businesses actively embrace ICT, they would be swept into oblivion by the ICT revolution.
Real life examples of the positive impact of data availability to individuals and businesses were given by Mr Emeka Okafor, Managing Director of Connect Nigeria. According to him, Connect Nigeria’s mission of making information more accessible to Nigerians fits in perfectly with the modern business strategy focus of meeting personalised needs. Another member of the panel, Mr Aderinola Oloruntoye of SAP Nigeria grew quite animated as he attempted to demonstrate how much is left to be done in this regard. He was particular about what he saw as the gross underutilization of data in Nigeria. Mr Oloruntoye expressed the belief that big data could prove to be instrumental in solving the problems with inefficiency faced by many businesses in the country.
The days’ discussions provided a good deal of material for policy makers and business leaders to reflect upon. They laid bare the gap that still exists between the data needs for a developing country such as Nigeria, and current levels of information availability, which fall far short of what is the country requires. But they also reminded participants and the wider audience that opportunities to thrive exist in these spaces for those that take advantage of them.
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