Zoho, NCC partner with Nigeria Innovation Summit

Nigeria Innovation Week, a one-week long event that brings together stakeholders from different sectors of Nigeria’s economy has received the backings of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Zoho Corporation.

A major feature of the Nigeria Innovation Week is the Nigeria Innovation Summit. The event organized by – InnovationHub Africa & Resources Limited runs from Tuesday, October 6, 2020, to Thursday, October 8, 2020, under the theme: ‘Innovating in Critical Times’.   

NCC 

is the independent National Regulatory Authority for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria. The Commission is responsible for creating an enabling environment for competition among operators in the industry as well as ensuring the provision of qualitative and efficient telecommunications services throughout the country.

Over the years NCC has earned a reputation as a foremost Telecom regulatory agency in Africa.

The Commission is hoping to catalyze the use of ICT for different aspects of national development. The Commission has initiated several programs such as the State Accelerated Broadband Initiative (SABI) and Wire Nigeria Project (WIN) to help stimulate demand and accelerate the uptake of ICT tools and services necessary for the enthronement of a knowledge society in Nigeria.

In order to achieve its mandate, the Commission has put in place the necessary licensing and regulatory framework for the supply of telecommunications services.

The Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, has in the last five years, diligently implemented the Commission’s auspicious strategic 8-Point Agenda, which he put in place when he assumed office in 2015.

This provided the basis for most of the Commission’s achievements in the last five years, especially in the areas of service availability, accessibility, and affordability.

Speaking about the event, the Lead Convener and the Founder of InnovationHub Africa & Resources Limited, Kenneth Omeruo, said that innovation in the 21st century is putting nations ahead of others.

According to Omeruo, Nigeria Innovation Week is a week set aside to showcase innovative businesses, ideas, products, and services from Nigeria.

“It also reviews the state of innovation in Nigeria, where we are today, and how we can move forward.

Commenting on NCC’s resolve to support the Summit, Omeruo said, “NCC under Danbatta has recorded outstanding achievements especially in the provision of relevant industry and macro-economic strides in the areas of the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Quality of Service (QoS) delivery, broadband infrastructure deployment, broadband penetration, effective spectrum utilization, consumer empowerment, technology innovation as well as the Commission’s efforts with respect to curbing fraudulent Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration and 112 Emergency Number towards ridding the country of insecurity, among others.

He added that by supporting NIS 2020, NCC has once again proven the commitment towards leading innovation for national development especially in critical times like this era of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

After securing NCC’s support, the organizers also have the backings of Zoho Corporation; one of the world’s most prolific technology companies with 45+ apps in nearly every major business category, including sales, marketing, customer support, accounting, and back-office operations, and an array of productivity and collaboration tools.

Zoho recently announced major updates to Zoho Workplace — a single software platform that brings together collaboration, productivity, and communications tools and integrates them into other business processes.

According to Omeruo, Zoho represents a suite of productive platforms from leading vendors that bring about collaboration within teams, even though they are disconnected from other business apps and therefore lack any awareness of the underlying business issue being addressed.

The week is packed with several activities like innovation exhibitions, Nigeria Innovation Summit, Nigeria Innovation Awards, and the yearly report of the State of Innovation in Nigeria.

At the event, ideas, trends, opportunities around technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship development in Nigeria are discussed.

“Participation in this week-long event is opened to local and international businesses, organizations, government agencies, start-ups, entrepreneurs, research centers, tertiary institutions, and all the stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem”, Omeruo said.

Omeruo added that the event will also showcase innovative businesses, ideas, products, and services from Nigeria. “The state of innovation in Nigeria is also reviewed to understand its position and how it can be improved”.