Nigeria is somewhat at crossroads. While you have a teeming number of young minds interested in technology and trying to innovate with technology, you have a government that talks about transforming the economy with technology and yet what is budgeted for the industry is abysmally small. Isn’t that ironic?
It may interest you to know that the proposed budget for (communications) technology in the whole of 2017 does not match what a number of universities in other countries budget for research and development.
Yes, I agree that we are a growing nation, but we must understand that technology and innovation do not understand long or hopeful speeches. If we want to leapfrog, then, we need to make huge investments in technology alongside having sharp execution strategies. This is a story for another day.
For today, I just want to share my thoughts on events in the tech ecosystem. I have been asked by a number of people if the ecosystem needs more events, whether annually or monthly or if we have enough events already. The big question is how many more technology related events does Nigeria really need?
I honestly do not have the perfect answer, but I think we need more events in the ecosystem. We cannot underestimate the importance of events to the growth of the ecosystem.
One of the interesting things about my career is that I get to meet a lot of people and it does not start or end there. I really do go out of my way to ask smart and (what you might sometimes refer to as) silly questions. Either way, trust that I will always ask questions.
At the end of GITEX 2016, therefore, I set out to find out from a Nigerian professional who had been resident in Dubai for a while now, how many technology-related events are held annually in Dubai?
“CFA, there are countless number of events held annually. GITEX is, no doubt, the biggest and most prominent of them, but there are also events around broadcasting, IT infrastructure, services, start-ups, online marketing, digital and mobile solutions and many more. One of the things that make the Dubai ecosystem very interesting is the sheer number of events available for any start up that wants to take things to another level,” he said.
If you juxtapose his statement with what is obtainable in Nigeria, you will see that we are worlds apart. I agree we do not have to be Dubai, as some people may want to quote that, “Rome was not built in a day”, but, we must — Finish Reading on the Punch Website
