Superpowers in technology development, the International Business Machine (IBM) has taken stock of its role in the development of Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT), saying more is still underway for the country.
According to Ernest Oladipo Faulkner, Country General Manager, IBM Nigeria, “Our point of view in IBM is that technology is a tool for business management and economic development”. He said from this perspective, “we fully understand that whatever solution or technology we put out in the market is used to enable businesses and unlock the economy”.
He said IBM works in two key fronts: “First, we have a world class innovation centre in Nigeria operating as a platform for incubating ideas, developing new concepts/ideas. Secondly, the enablement we do, which is not just about businesses but cuts across board”.
Continuing, he revealed that every quarter IBM conducts training for people and other stakeholders including partners, clients, the academia, inundating them on specific technology advancements and domains so they become better skilled to using these technologies.
“We also conduct trainings for the Universities in Nigeria, impacting the local communities as well. Recently, we carried out a corporate social responsibility project in Ogun State, specifically how technology can assist the government become more efficient in their projects. We are connected to this market as a Company. Watson, our intelligent system was introduced, aside America, first in Africa.
“When our Global CEO was in Africa in 2014, she announced that Watson will be deployed in two key areas: cervical cancer treatment and education.
Faulkner noted that “IBM believes that if the people are empowered with the necessary skills they can become their own entrepreneurs, or use the skills to help the businesses they find themselves”.
“In today’s world, and Africa is not left behind, we believe that with cloud platforms and other software running on them, we can introduce other solutions that can become globally available for segmented market, especially for those that could not afford the tools in the first place.
The IBM chief in Nigeria further called for improved collaboration between the government, the local ICT industry and the foreign partners, as a critical step to actualizing robust local content development.
