Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been announced as one of the top speakers at the upcoming Nigeria Innovation Summit 2016.
The annual summit which holds in Nigeria focuses on the need for the country, businesses, organisations and entrepreneurs to become more innovative and apply innovation to drive economic growth and sustainable development. This year’s edition with the theme “Innovation: A Key Driver of Economic Growth and Sustainable Development” is scheduled to hold on November 3-4, 2016 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.
A group of University of Lagos (UNILAG) Engineering students who designed a zero emission car, which they named DOVE P1, will also showcase their innovation at the Summit.
The summit is hope to help Nigeria embrace innovation using emerging technologies and trends, research, development, entrepreneurship and investments as key drivers of an innovation ecosystem and this year’s edition will focus on issues related to telecommunication and mobile innovations, health innovations, research and higher education innovation, agric innovation and startup/entrepreneurship innovation, according to organisers.
The summit, through the Nigeria Innovation Awards promotes leading innovations from Nigeria; recognizes innovators who are pacesetters; provides a platform that creates awareness on the need for Open Innovation in Nigeria and also challenges Nigeria to leverage Innovation and become competitive as well as join other countries that are using innovation to drive their economies, the organizers explain.
Ahead of the Summit, Mr. Kenneth Omeruo, Founder/CEO, Emerging Media, said that it was regrettable the inability of governments at different levels to really embrace and leverage ICTs despite Nigeria’s present economic situation.
To overcome the impending unemployment and economic recession engulfing the country, Omeruo called for the urgent need to explore non-oil sectors towards achieving sustainable development in Nigeria, adding that technology innovation, research and entrepreneurship are key elements we need to embrace and time is really running out.
“These are some of the reasons we are putting our passion and investment working on a pan-Nigerian Innovation Summit. We are partnering with the world’s leading innovation providers from academia, government and industry to connect Nigerian businesses and Innovators to global innovation ecosystems”, the Emerging Media CEO says.
“No doubt, this will help Nigeria embrace innovation and move in the direction of digital transformation through the use of Emerging Technologies and Trends, Research, Development, Commercialization, Entrepreneurship and Investments as the key drivers of an innovation ecosystem and sustainable development. There is no better time to promote innovation in Nigeria than now.
“Unfortunately, in the latest Global Innovation Index which ranks the innovation performance of 128 countries and economies around the world, based on 82 indicators, Nigeria appeared on that index as a country far away from innovation because Nigeria does not invest in Innovation.”
Omeruo said that innovation for any country or people does not come by mere wishing it, rather it is driven by huge investments in research and development, promoting greater entrepreneurship spirit. These are the bedrocks on which prosperous economies are built, he says.
Other speakers expected at the Summit include Professor Wellington Oyibo, Director Innovation and Research Centre, University of Lagos; Lexi Novitske, Principal Investment Officer Singularity Investments; Dr. Victor Odumuyiwa, Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Lagos; Dr Oyedokun Oyewole, President / Chairman Governing Council, Institute of Information Management (IIM), among others.
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