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“The number one
benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what
they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be
productive. It lets people learn things they didn’t think they could
learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential” – Steve
Ballmer (Microsoft Plc)

“Information
technology and business are becoming inextricably interwoven. I don’t
think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without the talking about
the other” – Bill Gates (Microsoft Plc).

Let us analyse both
quotes above from two individuals who have contributed immensely to the
current information technology revolution in our time.

With the advent of
the personal computer, smart phones (including blackberry phones) and
the internet especially; the way we work, study, communicate,
collaborate, and even the way we live over the last 20 years has
witnessed a metamorphosis of incredible dimensions or magnitude.

Information technology strategy

As a matter of
urgency, It is very crucial that developing countries such as Nigeria
clearly invest in creating and implementing an effective information
technology strategy that would cover the following;

>>Provide ICT
centres equipped with computers that have high speed internet
connectivity across all primary, post primary and all tertiary
institutions across the country.

>> There must be at least one computer system in use for every 7 pupils or students.

>> Implement a basic computer literacy curriculum across the whole educational system.

>> Provide suitable scholarships to individuals who excel in the area of ICT across primary and post primary institutions.

>> Provide
exchange programmes that will allow deserving students and pupils in
Nigeria to visit other countries and gain further knowledge.

>> At
University level, specifically for computer science and IT
undergraduates seek to revamp their existing curriculum to provide them
with better hands on experience.

>> Provide
ICT training centres which will provide free of charge (or at
discounted rates) to civil servants, business owners and other private
sector workers specific training to cover basic computer literacy in
Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Project etc

>> Make
available discounted computer systems for individuals to purchase and
pay for it in instalments from their salaries or regular income.

Investing in
producing a more computer literate workforce is absolutely crucial and
will assist in raising productivity, efficiency, provide better for
value for money in the products and services available to us as a
society.

Partnership

The government
should work in partnership with Internet Service Providers (ISP’s),
provide them with incentives (implementing the relevant policies) to
encourage and assist them in providing fast, cheap and reliable
internet access to the public.

In addition the
state needs to own and run its own ISP as an efficient concern to
further assist in providing the required competition.

This might all seem
like a long shopping list but we can certainly afford it based on our
sizeable oil revenue over the years and it is very crucial indeed, if
we are to partake and not be left behind in the current geometric
progression of information technology.

We need to equip
our society with the basic computer literacy skills to ensure that even
the electronics dealer in Alaba Market (Lagos) or the recharge card
seller in Uyo (Akwa Ibom State) has basic skills to capture their
profit and loss or their daily sales or stock inventory in a simple
spreadsheet.

In capturing such
data even on a small scale as advocated, buying patterns and trends can
easily be established assisting such Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
(SME), in providing a more competitive, effective, and responsive
service to their customers which will make for an all round better
consumer experience.

Information
technology can enhance our everyday life experiences; from ensuring
that a complete comprehensive health record of every individual is held
electronically and is easily retrievable when required, to being able
to track and audit products that we purchase on a daily basis
(especially when the product malfunctions or there is a need to recall
such a product for whatever reason) and the list goes on and on.

We must seek to use
information technology to improve our standard of living as a whole, as
an aid to education, better healthcare, in the provision of goods and
services in general. We must use IT to improve all aspects of our daily
life and fully automate processes in our society to include vehicle
registration/licensing, personal and investment banking, personal
identification & validation, computerised land registration,
provision of utility services, implement directional – navigational GPS
systems and even in entertainment etc.

In a nutshell we can use IT to improve our everyday lives and ultimately assist in raising our overall life expectancy etc.

As Nicholas
Negroponte (a professor at MIT – founder of the one Laptop per child
scheme) rightly puts it “Computing is not about computers any more; It
is about living”.

The writer is an international IT and Business Process Consultant.