Industry experts have called for all of Nigeria’s working class to be digitalized by giving them the tech skills they need to close the digital divide in the country.
The experts said that the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, in which many businesses went out of business or were forced to use technology platforms to do official work, shows that everyone has the digital skills they need to work in the new workplace.
The experts made the call on Tuesday at the 2nd Economic Update organised by the American Business Council (ABC) in collaboration with Lagos Business School with the theme: “Multi-Sectoral Impact of Emerging Technologies and Best Options for Their Adoption.”
Read: Tech Experts Call for Digital Literacy in Nigeria
Mrs. Olayinka West, the event’s moderator and a professor of information systems at Lagos Business School, said that Nigeria doesn’t need to wait for another global event to wake them up and get them to accept new technologies that are changing quickly.
West said the technology could be the main source of foreign exchange as opposed to leaning on just oil for that.
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West said, “We can use our human resources to make Nigeria digital and get the country’s big macroeconomic benefits.” He also said, “Collectively, we can do more with technology for a healthier ecosystem in all parts of the Nigerian economy.” Prof. West said that if we want technology to be accessible to everyone, we need to start at the bottom and work our way up until we reach every corner of the country.
Others who spoke at the event also emphasized the need to innovate by making data and technology products for Nigeria as it is now and expected to be in 2050 when the population would have grown. This is so that digital technology can be used to change things for the better.