Internet Service Provider
Internet Service Provider, Linkserve made it double last week, when it announced the appointment of Mr. Victor Oisaghie as the company's new Managing Director as well as the launch of a new product tagged Linkserve Hosting.
Making the announcements, Linkserve's Chairman, Mr. Chima Onyekwere, said that the appointment of Oisaghie was in line with the company's drive to reposition itself in the industry even as it strived to provide the best services possible to Nigerians tapping on Oisaghie's skill and experience.
Onyekwere described the new Managing Director, as a strong IT person, being one of six Cisco certified internetwork experts in Africa.
He said, "Like in everything else we do at Linkserve, we go only for the best because we believe that our clients deserve only the best. Linkserve's network connection solution is second to none and will only get better as new technology is developed."
Accepting to employ his knowledgeable skills to provide services to Linkserve customers, the new Managing Director, expressed enthusiasm on joining the Linkserve team, saying, "I am happy to be a part of one of Nigeria's landmark brands and look forward to playing my part in taking the company to the next level.
Linkserve possess the potential to continue in its pace-setting role in Nigeria's ICT industry" he added. Oisaghie, a Chemical Engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, is coming with over fifteen years experience in Information Technology and Consulting.
Before he joined Linkserve, he was the Technical Marketing Director for VRCon Incorporated, and was celebrated in the company as undoubtedly one of Africa's leading IT engineers with vast experience in product and business development, project management and networking.
Oisaghie began his IT career with Optimal Systems Integration in Lagos and has since served in key leadership and management positions with several organizations including Anderson Consulting (Accenture), Chevron Overseas Petroleum Incorporated and Cisco Systems Incorporated. He has expertise in network protocols, issue resolution, requirement analysis, design, component selection, change management and process re-engineering.
Oisaghie takes over the Managing Director position from Mr. Victor Emodi who resigned to further his personal career.
Linkserve also launched a new product, Linkserve Hosting which it described as a complete web hosting automation control panel designed for web hosts to experience infinite hosting possibilities in cluster environments. It enables web hosting companies to manage all their servers through centralised interface.
Introducing the product, Onyekwere, stated that it is designed to ease the organisation's clients. He said, "with Linkserve Hosting, our clients can manage routine tasks of registering new domain names, hosting their businesses websites, likewise transferring their domain names and web servers for hosting while enjoying the flexibility of the software designed to provide seamless and consistent service.' He added that the software system can manage a cluster of web servers that exposes a centralised interface posing as a single virtual entity.
Also, Linkserve's Product Manager, Mr. Yinka Adesanya, who introduced the product with a live demonstration, listed the features and benefits that individuals using Linkserve Hosting will enjoy. He said, 'Linkserve Hosting is designed for clients to experience infinite hosting possibilities in cluster environment. It enables clients to manage all their servers on both Windows and Linux operating systems through centralized interface as well as providing the option of managing and automatically regulating traffic within the cluster. It also lowers operational costs.
STAHEHOLDERS DRUM SUPPORT FOR LOCAL CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
As the two day national workshop on the status and software development in Nigeria, stakeholders have called for improvement of local content in software development in Nigeria, as a critical element for realization of Vision 20:2020.
The workshop which was organized by the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) in collaboration with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); United Bank for Africa (UBA); Computer Warehouse Group; First Bank of Nigeria; Multi-Links Telecommunications Limited and Access Bank ended last week and held at Sheraton Hotel and Towers, Ikeja, Lagos, was designed to address some critical issues relating to Software Licensing and Development in Nigeria as an emerging sub-sector of the national economy, it was also meant to provide a roadmap and platform for stakeholders to assess the challenges and success so far recorded in software development in Nigeria, as a critical element for attainment of Vision 20:2020 as well as promote indigenous software development and participation of Nigerian professionals in the sub-sector. The theme of the workshop was: Status of Software Licensing and Development in Nigeria.M
However, at the end of the two-day deliberations, the following recommendations were made: that NOTAP should draw up the requirements and sequence for e-registration process of technology transfer as a way to minimize delays in approval process; customization and implementation of software services should be localized; the curricula of Nigerian tertiary institutions offering courses in the ICT sector should be constantly reviewed to respond to the needs of the industry; end-users of softwares should engage the services of specialists/experts and consultants when negotiating software license agreements in order to have a balanced technology transfer agreements; NITDA, NOTAP and all stakeholders should be involved in indigenous software development; Software developers should evolve indigenous softwares that meet specific needs of SMEs in Nigeria; End-users/Licensors should restructure their Software License agreements in line with NOTAP format and requirements and NOTAP and NITDA should develop a scheme plan for ICT and Intellectual Property Rights regime in Nigeria among others.
In His Welcome Address, the Minister of Science and Technology, represented by Director for Supervising in the ministry, Alh. Jega expressed delighted for the initiative and described it as apt and a crucial element to the economic development of the country.
If successfully harmonized, the minister said the workshop would encourage new development and growth of indigenous software not only in Nigeria but in the Sub-Saharan African continent as a whole.
His words "Computer Science activities and their applications in the software fields have become a house-hold phenomenon considering the role it performs in controlling the very fabric of our every day economic activities. Softwares are known to perform crucial functions in driving not only the ICT sector but other sectors such as education, Engineering, Agriculture Finance/Banking and even in our day to day governance. It is as a result of the significant and strategic importance of softwares to the economic development of a nation that advanced countries are investing heavily in the sector, so that the superiority which they have over other nations in the global economic playing fields can be maintained" he noted.
Lamenting the low content development of software in Nigeria, the minister said " It is sad to note that while countries such as India, China, Brazil, South Korea, Singapore, Chile, etc. are occupying positions as global key players in software development, African countries and Nigeria in particular are yet to appreciate the huge potentials that exist in the software market and have continue to depend on foreign Softwares to drive their economy.
The software Industry as we all know is one of the biggest revenue generating sector in the world. Companies that are into the business make huge sums of returns from the sales and licensing of software products and provision of other software services accompanying the softwares. Available records have shown that biggest computer companies in the world such as Microsoft, Oracles, and Sun Microsystems are among the top richest companies in the world and are known to produce some of world's richest people such as Bill Gates." he stated, pointing out that if Nigeria is to realize her dream of becoming among the top 20 highest economy in the world by the year 2020, it must meet her global requirement to be a software development nation and should take note of these realities and recognize that software development is an important key to national economic development.
In his presentation entitled :Critical Issues Emanating from Software and ICT Agreements, the NOTAP Director General, Engr. Umar Buba took time to analyze the technology transfer agreements in Nigeria, and observed that software and ICT technology transfer agreements between indigenous licensees, software vendors and foreign licensors were conducted in a haphazard and uncoordinated manner contrary to international best practices, and called for a holistic review of the trend in order to save the local content and to encourage expertise among local professionals.
He acknowledged technology as the key driver of the modern economy, especially in today's knowledge driven economy, stressing that with the instrumentality of locally manufactured software, Nigeria would be leapfrogging from its oil driven economy to knowledge driven economy.
He regretted that Nigeria is still importing software, even at a time when other countries in the world were satisfying their local demand for software usage and exporting the excess to other countries, and averred that NOTAP with support of other stakeholders through partnership would address the trend by improving the local content and empowering the indigenous profession.
In his own paper entitled: Strategies to Domesticate Software and Ict in Nigeria, the Director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency (Nitda), Prof. Cleopas Angaye, X-rayed the 2008 Global Information Technology report as released by the World Economic Forum which ranked Denmark as the highest in the world and ranked Nigeria seventh in Africa behind the likes of Senegal, Egypt among others.
He insisted that development remained the key to solving most challenges in software development everywhere, including Nigeria as exemplified by countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa and amongst others that are currently generating high revenue from ICT and software development.
Abuja-Telecom investments in Nigeria
Abuja-Telecom investments in Nigeria has increased to over US$18 billion within the last eight years on account of predictive regulatory environment and supportive government for a deregulated telecom industry.
Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Engr. Ernest Ndukwe disclosed this at the ITU World 2009 Forum and Exhibition taking place in Geneva, Switzerland. He said that Nigeria is keen on attracting more investments so as to expand the needed services in the areas of internet and broadband services across the country, having made a remarkable into voice telephony services.
Ndukwe said the current investment figure is made up of about US$12 billon from foreign direct investment while the balance is from investments made within the country since 2001.
He said government's invitation to the private sector for participation in the industry has paid handsomely and led to the current success indices in the sector.
"This tells me that the decision by government to liberalise was a very good one", he said, indicating that this is why the current 68 Million active subscriber lines recorded in the industry over just eight years in Nigeria has been variously described as a revolution.
The NCC boss said that the decision by Nigeria to implement a technologically neutral regulation has resulted in investments in both the GSM and CDMA based services and made diverse services available in Nigeria with investors attacking services from different points thereby providing choices for the Nigerian consumer.
He said Nigeria is today dominated by wireless services delivery, not just in the mobile sector but also in the fixed wireless services.
He said that despite the achievements recorded in the mobile and wireless sector, there are efforts to improve connectivity through programmes such as the Wire Nigeria Initiative, WIN, to ensure that Nigeria is fully connected with optics fibre cable, an initiative said to have become very successful and that the operators have made substantial inroad in connecting several cities across the country with fibre cable facilities.
