By 
Nigeria’s Minister of Communications Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, over the week, restates Nigeria’s goal to become an IT powerhouse as he led a high powered delegation to a pre-GITEX meeting in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
The meeting was designed to gain support for Nigeria’s participation at the yearly technology show touted as the world’s 3rd biggest IT event after CeBIT, Hannover Germany and CES, Las Vegas, USA.
Organised by the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC), the GITEX Technology Week holds from October 6-10 this year in Dubai and has become a melting pot for the latest tech innovations, ideas, policies and networking in the world majorly focusing on advancing tech-frontier in the Asia, Middle East and Africa regions.
“We are here to further challenge our successes at previous GITEX events. To ensure continuous value for Nigeria’s participation in GITEX and assure you of Nigeria’s commitment to leverage the opportunities at this year’s event,” said Pantami.
He said the objective of the meeting is to enhance the quality of inter-governmental meetings, increased visibility and opportunities for indigenous startups and exhibitors, the visibility and quality of the Nigerian Pavilion and speaking slots for Nigeria at GITEX 2019. The event with the theme: Synergizing the Mind and Technology Economy seeks to explore the effects of technology on the mind and the economy.
Addressing members of the DWTC’s planning team for GITEX 2019 which include Mr. Oscar Wendel, Senior Manager, Conferences and Content; Mr. Elex Rensburg, Head of Sales; and Mr. Zarko Ackovik, Group Sales Manager, the minister emphasized the need for “the DWTC team to ensure that this year’s event brings greater value to Nigeria in the areas of focus of the Conference which covers areas such as 5G, AI, Industry 4.0, Lifestyle Technology, Future Mobility and the promotion of startups”.
Pantami reiterated the need for Nigeria to always derive value for money from partnerships and collaborations such as GITEX, an approach he affirmed he had always pursued and is keen at further promoting in his present capacity as Minister of Communications.
“ICT is a very dynamic field and there are great developments usually showcased at GITEX . The agencies under the ministry’s purview will attend this year’s event to learn about trends in innovation so as to further improve their service delivery.
The Three man delegation from Nigeria include the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mr. Kashif Inuwa Abdullahi whose mandate is to regulate and develop IT in Nigeria, and the Technical Assistant to Dr. Pantami, Dr. Femi Adeluyi.
It will be recalled that Dr Pantami during his tenure as Director General of NITDA, tremendously increased Nigeria’s participation and visibility at the event, recorded the highest number of sponsorships for startups that cut across the six geo-political zones and put Nigeria into reckoning as a potential global IT powerhouse.
