Innovation Forum 2014: Cross River State Government partners with Microsoft, Nokia and Dalberg to Drive Innovation in Nigeria
Innovation forum 2014 is set to provide answers as to how ICT-Led Innovation can drive competitiveness and growth in Agriculture, Education, Employment and Job creation in Nigeria.
In line with the overall vision to foster innovation in Nigeria, the Cross River State Government in partnership with leading tech organizations-Microsoft and Nokia in collaboration with Dalberg will be hosting the 2014 Innovation Forum with the major focus” Innovation for Vision 20:2020”which gives support and also promotes the National Vision.
The innovation forum which will take place on the 11th April at the Tinapa Lakeside Hotel, Calabar, is to drive innovation in the key sectors of Education and Agriculture with a view of building businesses and solutions that will address the challenges in these sectors, provide employment and boost the economic status of the people.
While speaking to the media on this, Mr Odo Effiong, Special Adviser on ICT to Gov. Liyel Imoke of Cross River State states ”we are driving this year’s innovation forum as part of Cross River State Government resolve to explore opportunities around Technology and Innovation which is a driving force for economic development in the 21st Century. Having identified this over the years, the cross river state government has been working towards providing a different economy, different lifestyle for the people of Cross River State.”
You could recall that over the last four years the Cross River State government has provided a great platform for technology development in the state, they have hosted the National Software Conference which gave birth to the establishment of the Software Incubation Centre (IDEA Hub) in Tinapa.
“We are using this forum as another platform to promote innovation in Education and Agriculture in the state. Innovative applications that will solve problems in these areas will be identified at the end of the day and that will go a long way in solving problems of unemployment and create jobs for Cross Riverians” Mr Effiong added.
Ijeoma Abazie, Head Corporate Affairs at Microsoft Nigeria while giving the overview of this year’s Innovation Forum states” The 2014 innovation Forum in Calabar will explore how ICT-led innovation can drive competitiveness and growth in Agriculture, Education, Employment and Job Creation. The forum brings together key stakeholders and experts in the innovation ecosystem who will make contributions on how innovation can be driven in these key sectors. About 12 Application Developers who are working on innovative products around Agriculture and Education will showcase their products which is set to address some identified challenges”
In his contribution, Olumide Balogun who is the Senior Product Manager for Nokia West Africa said that Nokia is pleased to be part of this year’s Innovation Forum. Nokia has been supporting application developers in Nigeria and sees this opportunity as another avenue to lend more support in providing the needed tech solutions that will address the challenges in Education, Agriculture as to create employment opportunities for young Nigerians. Mr Chuma Ukeagu, Director Public Sector at Microsoft Nigeria was also present and mentioned several initiatives that Microsoft has been embarking on in Nigeria to support Education and sees this as another platform for his organization to do more and drive innovation in Nigeria.
Other executives at the media briefing who gave their contribution are Mr. Yemi Orimolade,PR Lead Microsoft Anglophone West Africa and Fred Oriunuebho, Head Communications at Nokia West Africa.
At the end it all shows that this year’s innovation forum will encourage Public Private Partnership (PPP) which is a needed initiative to drive development in Nigeria.
For us this is a welcomed development, we wish them a great deliberation at the forum!