The Executive Vice Chairman(EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Umar Garba Danbatta has actually mentioned that the Commission is concentrated on carrying out all sectoral interventions focused on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) youth empowerment.

This is as he reckoned that 70 percent of the new worth to be developed in the economy over the next years will be based upon digitally-enabled platform service models.

Danbatta made this statement while delivering the 11th and 10th combined Convocation Lecture of Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State.

He asserted that the willpower of the Commission to pursue very intensely an arrangement of ICT programs focused on the youth is based upon the forecasted opportunity for the youth in the emerging ICT-based labour market.

Danbatta remembered that stats from Global System for Mobile Communication Association (GSMA) and the World Economic Forum (WEF), have actually indicated that unique mobile subscriptions are expected to mature to 5.7 billion by 2025 with concurrent development in Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) connections, and Internet memberships and corresponding growth in operators’ income and investment.

The CEO of NCC likewise stated that fourth generation (4G) connections are anticipated to grow to 57 per cent; Fifth Generation (5G) is also imagined to have 1.8 billion connections; use of mobile phones are forecasted to grow to 81 per cent; Internet of Things (IoT) will grow from 13.1 billion to 24 billion connections; and contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the mobile market is anticipated to grow by, at least, 5.1 per cent by 2025.

The implications of the foregoing, according to Danbatta, is a big, incredible opportunity for youth to own businesses.

“Therefore, while NCC is working collaboratively and strategically with its monitoring ministry, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, it is also working with young Nigerians to prepare them for harnessing these chances for individual and nationwide success.

“It is this substantial prospect that informed NCC to set up a variety of interventions and initiatives targeting the youth in a unmatched and unique institutionalisation of strategic partnership and partnership,” he stated.

The programs, according to Danbatta, consist of the ICT Hubs Support and Engagement, which is an online forum that brings together essential gamers, stars and the youths in Nigerian tech-ecosystem to deliberate and suggest policy framework and techniques that might even more develop the sector to catalyse improved local material in the ICT/telecommunications sector.

There is also the annual ICT Innovation Competition and Exhibition focused on facilitating sustainable digital start-ups development through a platform to showcase their digital ingenious options.

The Annual Hackathon is created to challenge start-ups and tech centers in Nigeria to produce sustainable and impactful ingenious services that will attend to typical social challenges using digital technologies.

Danbatta stated the ICT Park Project being constructed across the 6 geo-political zones of the country to increase digital skills among young people, promote development, supply tasks for young Nigerian and ultimately support the Federal Government Digital Agenda is equally a tactical program concentrated on harnessing and optimising the youths’ innovative energy for advancement.

Other associated projects in this regard consist of the NCC National Essay Competition engaging undergraduates in Nigerian tertiary institution to explore and boost research in tertiary institutions and construct capacity.

In addition, the school support programmes that include the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP), a special intervention started as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) job in response to the digital details understanding space observed in the country; in addition to the Advanced Digital Appreciation Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI), set up to bridge the knowledge ability space in greater institutions of knowing, mainly target the youth and students.

Accordingly, Danbatta called on the youth to knowingly take note of emergent sections in ICT that are offered for them to check out. These, according to him, consist of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data.

He likewise advised trainees and youths to take note not only to any of those technology sections but likewise their overlapping variables such as hyper-connectivity, super-computing, cybersecurity, and smarter world such as robotics, 3D printing, and sensors– which are at the heart of the circular economy.

In recognition of the ingenious minds of Nigeria’s big youth population, Danbatta said the NCC had put all the ICT youth empowerment efforts to support a digitally-skilled workforce that will fit into the Digital Economy Project of Nigeria.

“The Commission is dedicated to promoting collaboration and cooperation with the innovation centers and start-ups, to speed up innovations and the development of a digitally-skilled labor force for commercial development and sustainable development of the nation,” the EVC said.