Digital Economy for a Digital Nigeria cannot be achieved without Digital Skills, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM has said.

The NEXT LEVEL Honourable Minister made this assertion today while making his remarks during a meeting with a delegation from the Global Digital Literacy Council which was held at the Ministry's Corporate Headquarters, Abuja.

Building on the fact that Nigerian youths are digital natives who require mentorship and guidance to excel in their choosing career path, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM today delivered a lecture at Garki Secondary School, Abuja on the topic, "AN INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL ECONOMY AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES".

This is part of the rebirth concentration of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy under the leadership of the focused, young and charismatic Minister, Dr Pantami to drive a digital economy for digital Nigeria.

The Honourable Minister in his presentation encouraged the youths to adopt the spirit of entrepreneurship and self-reliance, stressing that with determination, interest, commitment, mentoring and consistency they will excel in the field of ICT and any other choosing career path.

The Minister said, "when we talk about a digital economy, we are talking about potential employers, not potential employees. Adding that " emerging technology is the key enabler of each and every sector of society.

FULL TEXT OF THE LECTURE

An Introduction to the Digital Economy and Emerging Technologies Presented By Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami), Ph.D, FNCS, FBCS, FIIM Honourable Minister, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy At the Government Secondary School (GSS), Garki Date: February 17, 2020

Outline
 What is the Digital Economy?
 Benefits of the Digital Economy
 Developing Nigeria's Digital Economy
 What are Emerging Technologies?
 Examples of Emerging Technologies
 New Career Options Created by the Digital Economy and Emerging Technologies
 Q & A

What is the Digital Economy?
• Many institutions have defined the Digital Economy in different ways. A few examples include:
• An economy that “encompasses businesses that sell goods and services via the internet, and digital platforms that connect spare capacity and demand “[EU]
• A broad range of economic activities comprising all jobs in the digital sector as well as digital occupations in non-digital sectors [World Economic Forum]
• Any aspect of the economy that is based on or driven by digital technologies [Our working definition in Nigeria]
• Benefits include transparency, promotion of a cashless society and higher revenue for the country.
• Most of the top companies (Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc) around the world have created wealth by embracing the Digital Economy
Developing Nigeria's Digital Economy
• The National Digital Economy Policy and
Strategy, which was graciously unveiled and launched by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on the 28th of November 2019.
• It aims to provide a platform for digital technologies to stimulate growth in all sectors of the economy. It will create an enabling environment for the promotion of digital jobs across the length and breadth of the country.
What are Emerging Technologies?
• Emerging technologies are new types of technologies that are being developed or will be developed in 5 to 10 years.
• They have a great impact on the different sectors of the economy.
• They can improve over lives in many ways by helping us to complete tasks more efficiently, as well as keeping us safer.
Examples of Emerging Technologies
• Internet of Things
• Big Data Analytics
• Artificial Intelligence
• 3D Printing
• Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR)
• Cyber security
• Cloud Computing
• etc

Big Data Analytics
• Big data refers to the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that floods the different sectors of society every day.
• Big data analytics is the process of analyzing big data to uncover insights such as hidden patterns, market trends, interesting correlations, etc that can help institutions make informed decisions.
• It can be used anyway that massive data is available eg healthcare, finance, e-commerce, education, business, etc.
• For example, in healthcare it is used for personalized treatments, in banking it is used for risk assessment and in telecoms it is used for location based device analysis.

Artificial Intelligence
• AI is the field of computing that is associated with the ability of the computer to "think like a human being".
• The computer is then able to perform some human tasks like learning, problem-solving, planning, etc.
• The friendly voice-activted assistants on Apple (Siri) and Amazon (Alexa) platforms are based on AI. Social media platforms also use AI to sieve out inappropriate content.

Internet of Things
• Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the expanding internetwork of physical objects that convey data between themselves in a way that does not require human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
• IoTs are used for in every field where sensors can be interconnected. For example, they are used in smart agriculture, patient monitoring and tracking of vehicles.

3D Printing
• 3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file.
• It can be used in different fields, including medicine, arts, education and even in the construction of buildings.
• The 1st 3D Printed Office in the World, located in Dubai was printed in 17 days and constructed in 48 hours, the first 3D- printed office building in the world is in Dubai (Inaugurated in May 2016). Dubai wants to 3D print 25% of its new buildings by 2025.

AR/VR
• Virtual Reality (VR) – creates interactive computer-generated worlds allowing the user to experience producing the sensation of actually being in life-sized new environments.
• Augmented Reality (AR) has a unique ability to create immersive hybrid learning environments combining both physical and digital objects
• Virtual Reality (VR) is meant to take you somewhere else. Augmented Reality (AR) is meant to add to where you are.
• Used in education, entertainment and medicine, manufacturing, tourism, amongst others

New Career Options Created by the Digital
Economy and Emerging Technologies
• The Digital Economy and Emerging Technologies will create career options that with augment the existing careers of the traditional economy.
• Some of these include:
1. VR/AR Developer (eg to give clients a tour guides through buildings before they are built, for virtual classrooms, etc)
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Developer
3. Internet of Things Developers and Engineers (with the era of smart cities this is an
important and growing field)
4. Cyber Security Engineer (Data is everywhere and with this comes the risk of data breaches. Cybersecurity experts are needed to prevent this.
5. User Experience Designers and Design Thinkers (creating a bridge between technology and user expectations)
6. Data Scientist, Analysts
7. Cloud Computing Engineers

For the third day in a row, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM is chairing the meeting of the Sub Committee on Citizen Data Harmonization. The official gathering is aimed at addressing concerns raised by the United States Government with respect to the recent temporary migrant visa restriction placed on Nigeria and Five (5) other countries. It will be recalled that his Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR on 3rd February 2020 set up the Citizen Data Management Committee charged with the Mandate to; 1. Review the recent temporary Visa restrictions on Nigerian Citizens by the USA 2. Develop and implement systems and processes that will address the security concerns raised by USA 3. Harmonization of all multiple data sources in Nigeria into a single database Source: Mr Yusuf Abubakar, Personal Assistant (New Media) to The Minister

On the authority vested on him as the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM officially inaugurated the Chairman of the Governing Board of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Adeolu Akande and the Non-Executive Commissioner, Mr Uche Onwude in a brief ceremony which was held today at the Ministry's Corporate Headquarters, Abuja. In his brief remarks, the Honourable Minister urged the governing board members to be united, stressing that without unity, nothing can be achieved. The Minister also pledged his full support to the board and further called on the members to always prioritize the interest of Nigeria and under no account should they compromise in their official assignment. Dr Pantami said, "as public officials, it will be a great injustice to the Nation when we allow the platform under our supervision and regulation to be used to commit crimes". Source: Mr Yusuf Abubakar, Personal Assistant (New Media) to The Minister

Immediately after attending the Federal Executive Council Meeting (FEC), the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM is for the second day in a row chairing the meeting of the Sub Committee on Citizen Data Harmonization.

It will be recalled that the Citizen Data Management Committee was recently constituted by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR with the Mandate to address all concerns raised by the United States Government with respect to the recent temporary migrant visa restriction placed on Nigeria and five (5) other countries.

Following the recent development in which the United States of America (USA) placed a temporary migrant visa restriction on Nigeria and five (5) other countries, the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM today chaired the inaugural meeting of the SUBCOMMITTEE ON CITIZEN DATA HARMONIZATION.

His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR in his wisdom to address concerns raised by the United States Government which led to the temporary restriction, inaugurated a committee on CITIZEN DATA MANAGEMENT.

As part of an effort to drive a Digital Economy for a Digital Nigeria and position the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) on the part of prosperity in line with the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians, who have taking to the Social Media to voice their discontent with the current state of the postal service.

The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami FNCS, FBCS, FIIM today chaired the meeting of the Steering Committee on the Reform and Modernization of the Nigerian Postal Service which was held at Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) Corporate Headquarters, Abuja.

With the official End of Support (EoS) of the Microsoft Windows 7 Operating System (OS) which came into effect on 14th January 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support and security or software updates for the platform. Systems running on Windows 7 OS will continue to work, however they will be progressively more vulnerable to viruses and malware.

The office of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) FNCS, FBCS, FIIM, MCPN has been inundated with complaints and enquiries concerning the recent 7.5% VAT deductions on voice calls and text messages, by some Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).

The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, FNCS, FBCS, FIIM, has directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to revise the Policy on SIM Card registration and usage. This is in line with the Powers of the Minister as stated in Section 25(1) of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003- "the Minister shall, in writing, from time to time notify the Commission or and express his views on the general policy direction of the Federal Government in respect of the communications sector."