Access to ICT infrastructure without quality education is vain, a key document from Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN) has outlined have said.
Technology Times review of the document titled ‘Digital life style of connected Nigeria‘ says “Access to ICT infrastructure without the commensurate access to improvement in literacy only leads to a ‘square peg in a round hole’ solution”
According to PIN,a social enterprise that connects Nigerians information and communication technology governments, donors and private sector organizations need to match spending on the much touted infrastructure with that of the backbone on which all of this ride. That backbone is quality education.
Quoting Leonard Waverman, a professor of Economics at the London Business School, PIN states that “there is a strong link between increase in ICT infrastructure (particularly the extensive use of mobile phones) and boost in GDP growth”, adding that “Mobile phones are important, but so is education and health care. A lot of things are required for growth.”
Information has the power to transform; change and place individuals, organizations and communities ahead of competition, and importantly, make sure that they remain active players in their realms. It has been defined as “the facts told, heard or discovered about something”. It is also a derivative of processed data, PIN explains to underscore the importance of education in the new digital age.
Nigerian youth participation in the Information Society has experienced a huge success over the last few years. However, for information to become meaningful, PIN stressed that it needs to make the transition into the realm of knowledge.
Authors of the document also noted that since the inception of the World Summit on the Information Society process, Nigerian youth in their bid to be part of an all-inclusive Information Society, and to bridge gender digital divide, have organised series of National Information Society Youth Campaigns and Rural Youth National Information Society Campaigns in various regions of the country.
These campaigns have created so much awareness on the need for young people to prove that our energies can help propel development, PIN says adding that ”we still have so much to do to achieve an all-inclusive Information Society as we will not be able to count our successes without bridging gender digital divide.”