One of Nigeria’s leading public sector ICT infrastructure and services company, Galaxy Backbone, was last week, declared Government Agency of the Year at the Beacon of ICT awards which held at the prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Gala night which was created to honor the talents, contributions and commitment of individuals and organizations who have made notable contributions within the Nigerian ICT Industry attracted the who_ is _who in the ICT industry and had in attendance the out-going Executive Vice Chairman NCC, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, Director General of National Broadcasting Commission, Yomi Bolanrinwa, former Minister of Communications Air Vice Marshall Canice Umenwaliri (Rtd) as well as other notable names in the ICT world and representatives of other government agencies.
According to the organizers, Galaxy Backbone won the award based on online votes cast by thousands of Nigerians made up of consumers of ICT products and services, the industry, media and the general public.

The citation read during the ceremony stated that since coming on board in 2007 as a special purpose ICT vehicle of the Government, Galaxy Backbone has changed the ICT landscape for good, especially through its 1_GOV.net services platform which was introduced to significantly enhance the adoption of ICT in the public sector for the efficient delivery of public services and cost effectiveness.

Franklyn Ginger_Eke, Manager, Corporate Communication, Galaxy Backbone, who received the award on behalf of the company, said “We find it extremely humbling to receive this award today amongst giants in the ICT industry.

In about three years of our corporate existence, the name Galaxy Backbone has become synonymous with the delivery of superior ICT solutions and services. This award challenges us towards ensuring that we meet and exceed our customers and stakeholders expectations through the provision of pervasive ICT infrastructure services that positively impact national development”.

Other recipients at the event include Executive Vice Chairman NCC, Ernest Ndukwe, as Father of Modern Nigeria Telecom, Helios Towers, Most Innovative Company of the Year Computer Warehouse Group- ICT Solution Provide of the Year, Globacom Telecom Operator of the Year amongst others.

DIRECTOR-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Professor Cleopas Angaye, below, enunciates the way forward in terms of indigenous software development, and in fact foresees a time when it will be illegal to source software and hardware except through Nigerian firms certified by NITDA.

AS far back as 2006, barely 12 months I came into office, I was to make sure the MDAs (Ministries, Departments, Agencies) patronize made in Nigerian software products. There were local entrepreneurs who produce software and many a times our people do not appreciate what we produce.

So in 2006 I sent a request to the Federal Executive Council through the ministry to the President and it’s past. The local vendors, local software consumers, MDA’s who consume software were directed to patronize these made in Nigeria software. In patronizing, supposing if you have two things that are equal in value and you are complied with now to use made in Nigerian software, but suppose they are not equal, what happens then the option is you use the one that has better quality and has more value.

The world is now patronizing them because the judgment you see is better and is very subjective. We are still struggling to say they must use made in Nigerian software. The words must, if you have two shirts and you believe one is of higher quality and you have money then, since you are paying for it you can use what you have.

Basically most markets are open, we allow the consumers to select what they want, but it is left for our people to actually have a product of competitive values.

What NITDA has to tried to do over the years is to have software training centers, and I have been talking about this for years because we had a couple of training with the Kano State Government coming out with IT parks where they had a lot of space then, IT training center was set up. In fact before that time Nigerian government had an agreement with Microsoft in 2003, for three years but in 2006 it expired. When we renewed it I told Microsoft that we need them to work with us to provide a software training centre, we can also call it an innovative centre.

That centre is part of the agreement and part of that innovative centre is a software training lab, which is still effective. Microsoft came back and said they needed land. They were given land here in the Abuja software park that has not physically taken off. We now said if we can’t get this in Abuja put it somewhere within Nigeria which is the Kano IT Park.

Last year we had an advert to provide software training centers and software testing labs, it couldn’t come because of certain issues but definitely this year software training labs will be on ground. What is the effect of that? The effect of international software training labs are that software will be produced in Nigeria which will be properly authenticated. It will be the same standards as any international software produced in the world globally. So when that is now in place we now come back and say ‘any software Nigeria has you can now use it’ because right now we have OEM’s (Original Equipment Manufacturers), e.g. Zinox, Omatek, Speedstar and Balog, which are recognized by the Federal Government through NITDA.

NITDA will now say these are computers assemblers and it will be recognized, which is more or less hardware. A federal government ministry and department get a contract to supply computers the implication is that they have to use any of these four OEM’s to get computers. It will be illegal to use any other computer system expect where these four OEM’s don’t have; they can now use any other such as HP, IBM and whatever, but are not allowed to use these expect government applied in the same vein.

We are now trying to use software that comes in through software training labs which will now pass through authentication of NITDA that will be globally and internationally recognized. So if you are now buying any software, we say, look, use any of these companies who have very good software to supply, since we are trying to promote made in Nigeria software, not only Nigeria but Africa and other countries. This will help to create employment for our own people and those coming out of university will be trained in those areas.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/