The Nigeria’s Communications commission NCC has engaged stakeholders in the Information and communication technology sector on the need to regulate internet of things, IoT in Nigeria.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Pantami, said Nigeria’s telecom regulatory framework has been designed to address the challenges that may arrive with the advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the country.
Pantami, who spoke at the event Stakeholders Consultative Forum on Regulatory Roadmap for IoT Ecosystem in Nigeria, hosted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Lagos said Nigeria has already exhibited its preparedness to harness the potentials of this new service, as demonstrated in the reduction in incidences of cybercrime in Nigeria over the past two years.
Public Presentation of:
1) Datafication of Society to Foster an Internet Economy; &
2) Cybersecurity Initiatives for Securing a Country, authoured by @ProfIsaPantami
The books reviewed & presented by @ITUSecGen; & President, IFIP, Professor Mike Hinchey, today in Lagos. pic.twitter.com/z6bSpP1uDG— Isa Ali Pantami, PhD (@ProfIsaPantami) July 14, 2022
The Minister emphasized the need for the type of consultations and brainstorming being hosted for IoT, as the International Data Cooperation (IDC) revealed, “By 2025, there will be about 46.1 billion IoT devices that are going to be interconnected globally…and through this connection, the data to be generated will be up to 79.4 zeta bites.”
Pantami said IoT is crucial to present day emergent technologies considering its connectedness to devices in facilitating productivity, minimize waste as well as ensure a faster decision making process where massive amount of data can be analysed and presented for decision making.
Also speaking at the event, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC Prof. Umar Danbatta has stated that with the advent of 5G technology the world will witness another dimension in the IoT Ecosystem.
He said: “With the advent of 5G technology, we are going to witness another dimension in the IoT Ecosystem as 5G technology is going to enable Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC).”
Danbatta also revealed that the GSMA Intelligence has predicted that IoT connections will reach almost 25 billion globally by 2025. With this pace of growth, noting that it has become imperative to prepare for the Regulation of the important technology.
Danbatta also stressed the commission’s efforts in seeing to fruition the Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025.
“In line with our Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) 2021-2025 which include amongst other things Facilitating the Provision of Infrastructure for Digital Economy which fosters National Development, Improve Quality of Service (QoS) for Enhanced Consumer Quality of Experience (QoE) and Facilitating Strategic Collaboration and Partnership; the Commission has continued to conduct studies on emerging technologies and their Spectrum and Regulatory requirement to ensure adequate availability of Spectrum for current and future use devoid of any harmful interference.”
Danbatta said the telecommunications industry is a dynamic industry, therefore, to keep abreast with developments in the industry, the contributions from all stakeholders are critical, adding that the forum was for the stakeholders to come and constructively exchange ideas and views on the Spectrum and regulatory requirement of Internet of Things.
Going further he explained what IoT is all about. “Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring any human intervention (human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction).”
The event witnessed the public presentation of two books by the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
The first book is title: “Datafication of Society to Foster an Internet Economy” and the second book is titled “Cyber–security Initiatives for Securing a Country.“
Emerging technologies are playing a vital role in the development of digital economies around the globe. The 2 books of the Honourable Minister emphasize key aspects of emerging technologies, namely datafication and Cyber-security.
