Leadership (Abuja)
Peter Jones Ailuorio
2 November 2009
Lagos — The third IT Edge West Africa Convergence Forum will on Thursday November 5, 2009 hold at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Similarly, Digital Sense Africa (DSA), will same day hold its forum in Lagos, at the Golden Gate, Ikoyi.
The sponsors of the third IT Edge event include: Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and Ericsson.
A statement signed by the organisers stated that this year, the event will hold in Abuja for the first time since 2007, and will draw greater participation from the public and private sectors, with the theme: "Content & Policy Dynamics in the Converged Market."
The event is organised by Knowledge Media International (KMI) Limited under the auspices of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
The 2008 forum drew participation from within and outside West Africa, including Rwanda. More than 150 people are expected to attend this year's event in the established tradition of the forum, in bringing together quality audience/participation to advance the sector.
Digital Sense Africa (DSA) forum billed for Lagos at the Golden Gate, Ikoyi, will offer stakeholders the needed platform to articulate a position on the upcoming Internet Governance Forum scheduled for Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, from November 15 - 18, 2009. The theme of the Nigeria Digital Sense forum is, "Internet Governance: Creating Opportunities for all Nigerians."Head, Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, who confirmed the support of the Commission in hosting the preparatory forum in Nigeria, said the Commission is keen on ensuring that the country is well positioned on issues of internet governance.
He expressed the hope that the forum would achieve the major objectives of enlightening Nigerians and galvanizing a common voice for the country at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) which holds in Egypt.
"We think that the organisers have a good vision of creating a platform to aggregate expert opinions and positions regarding Internet Governance, so that Nigeria will flow with the global community in arriving at a desirable position for the future of the Internet, which is an incredible resource available to the whole world," he said.
Executive Director, Operations, at the Digital Sense Africa, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, applauded NCC for its foresightedness in supporting the forum, mostly the Commission's leadership for not only paving the way for ICT revolution in Nigeria, but in addressing all aspects of ICT in such a way that the opinion of Nigeria is now respected globally, mainly because of what the Commission has achieved and has continued to achieve.
She noted that the importance the Commission attaches to the availability of Internet across the country has made a bold statement about its full understanding of ICT and how to make the nation enjoy the most of this global resource.
She recalled that NCC had in the recent past been the sole engine behind the internet governance agenda in Nigeria, mostly as a follow up to the former President Olusegun Obasanjo's directive that the Commission and National IT Development Agency (NITDA) should work out modalities for cheaper internet access in the country.
Pointing out that before now, NCC has spurred the establishment of the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) and Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) and has been very supportive in the sustenance of these organizations.
Most of this, she said, would form the highlights at the Digital Sense forum already backed by NiRA, IXPN, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Globacom Limited and Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) to name a few.
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