Nigeria ICT Fest

Introduction

It is believed that ICT usage lead to economic development. Developing nations can leverage ICT to engender exponential growth in military, telemedicine, pharmaceuticals, industries, transportation, communication and religion among others. To some extent, the difference between developed and under developed regions of the world is based on how they create and use cutting-edge technologies.

The organizers of Nigeria ICT Fest says it will serve as a platform for celebrating successful ICT initiatives in Nigeria and provide ample opportunity to network across borders.

According to an article on the institute for ethics and emerging technologies website, the first edition of Nigeria ICT Fest was held December 4–5, 2015 at Magrellos Eatery Festac, and Radisson Blun Anchorage Hotel, Victoria Island. Top scientists and philosophers such as Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) Fellow Dr. Aubrey de Grey * [1], IEET Executive Director Dr. James Hughes (sociologist), IEET Fellow Dr. Ben Goertzel and IEET Fellow Dr. Natasha Vita-More spoke remotely (via Skype) at the event. Dr. Aubrey de Grey spoke on Rejuvenation Biotechnology: Undoing aging with regenerative medicine. His presentation can be accessed at slideshare

Nigeria ICT Fest 2015

Micah Redding spoke on the first day, December 4 on the topic: "Christianity, Emerging Technologies, and the developing world — Nigeria's role in humanity's future." He challenged the view that Christians are not supposed to be actively involved in society. He spoke about vertical and horizontal development. In his words, "vertical development refers to developments that are revolutionary while horizontal developments refer to improvements on existing technologies." He advised that church should take advantage of technologies [2] [3].

Mira Kwak, an Artificial intelligence researcher from Seoul Korea spoke on day 2, December 5, 2015 on how to be a leading country by and in ICT. She talked about culture and how Nigerian culture could be portrayed positively to the international community. In her words "advantages to latecomers in the developing world is that they can: grow faster than developed countries, avoid trial and error, achieve technological and industrial upgrading, redesign current technologies, and solve current ICT problems." [4].

Hank Pellissier sent in his speech titled "How is Nigeria perceived by the American public." [5]. The Nigeria ICt Fest team believe in the potential of leveraging emerging technologies in Nigeria. Loredana Terec-Vlad of Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania also spoke at the conference. She is GHPI’s core point of contact for policy research and development initiatives in Australia and Asia. In the words of Agbolade Omowole, Executive Director of the Nigeria ICT Fest team, we are about to witness a technology explosion and it is important for countries of the world to grow together to ensure that these technologies are affordable and available to everyone regardless of geographical regions." He says he looks forward to a time where Nigerians will be among the top scientists in the world.

Publications

According to Ana Frunza, researcher at LUMEN Research Center in Social & Humanistic Sciences, LUMEN Research Center in Social & Humanistic Sciences proudly announced their collaboration with Mascot Information and Technology Solutions (MITS), Nigeria, the official organizer of the Nigeria ICT Fest 2015 in November 30, 2015. In this collaboration, LUMEN Research Center is sponsoring the publication of the proceeding papers resulted from the scientific event Nigeria ICT Fest 2015.

Impact on the Economy

Google has said that Nigeria possesses the greatest potential of internet usage in Africa but is yet to fully harness these potentials for its socio-economic and political development. To this end, the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) giant partnered the Federal Government through the Ministry of Communications and Technology around 2013 to launch a new "Impact of Internet" study in Nigeria, which examines the Internet' impact on, and potential contribution to socio-economic development of the country. Also, Nigeria shows the greatest potential in using the Internet to promote good governance, eCommerce and finance, though these sectors have not yet produced solutions that have spread across the region.

Startups such as Nigeria ICT Fest conference may rebrand the image of Nigeria from a country known for cyber crime to a country known for innovative technologies. Also, the conference may lead to economic development.