Security: Fashola improves Lagos State with ICT Resource Centre

NaijaAgroNet:

Setting a path to follow, the Governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola has improved security in the state with a donation of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Resource Center to the Lagos Police Command, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The centre which is located at C Police command Surulere area of Lagos State, he said, is part of some 100 resource centers being built by his government and expressed hope the centres will be completed and handed over to police across the state before the end of his tenure by May 29, 2015. 

The Governor added that the resource center will help the police to carry out an effective operation in reducing tedious record management system and tracking crime evidence locations, as capable staff has been trained by the ministry of science and technology to man the facilities, which include Digital Asset Management Systems, Digital Camera and two KW sola installations among others.

The governor also stressed the importance of communications technology saying “We cannot over-emphasize the importance of information communications in our lives. What we have done with these centers is to empower and enable the police to be able to keep detailed records of evidences. 

For instance, why do we have to keep a vehicle that was involved in an accident in the station for so long and allow it to rot, thereby losing value and depriving the owner of the vehicle? With this centre, the police can just take the photographs of the vehicle from all possible angle and incident it in their electronic file,” he said.

Kayode Aderanti, the commissioner of police commended Fashola for his concerns on the welfare of the police, saying that police would not have attained the height they are right now in Lagos, if not for the governor.

 
Dozie Anibueze/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Investment in ICT to boost healthcare markets in MEA

NaijaAgroNet:

Investments in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector are anticipated to boost the four core healthcare markets of Middle East and Africa over five years, reports NaijaAgroNet. 

Latest study made available to NaijaAgroNet by International Data Corporation (IDC), spending on Information Technology (IT) services and products among healthcare providers in Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirate (UAE) will grow by 70 per cent over the next five years, expanding at 11.2 per cent Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the five-year period from 2013 to 2018.

NaijaAgroNet also gathered that spending priorities based on the study by IDC will be strongly driven by healthcare policy mandates and efficiency improvement needs. 

In the context of a pronounced shortage of IT expertise among healthcare organizations, NaijaAgroNet reports that IDC Health Insights expects the demand for IT services to continue to rise in all four markets. In fact, IT services will be the fastest growing segment of the healthcare providers' market, with particularly intense growth projected in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Additional highlights from the data showed that spending on mobile devices and networking equipment will contribute significantly to overall hardware spending growth in all four markets.

In the software segment, NaijaAgroNet reports that system infrastructure software still accounts for the largest share of total external IT spending. 

While clinical information systems, NaijaAgroNet gathered, makes up the smallest share but will post the fastest growth at 13.5 per cent annually.

Nino Giguashvili, senior research analyst for IDC Health Insights, confided in NaijaAgroNet that all the four markets are set to grow at an impressive rate, stressing "While these markets present exceptional opportunities to healthcare IT suppliers across the whole ecosystem, it is the right time to focus on mobile solutions to healthcare providers' organizational needs, and MEA's healthcare challenges overall."

The study further gathered by NaijaAgroNet indicates IDC's Middle East and Africa Healthcare Provider 2013 IT spending and 2014–2018 Forecast provides IT spending data and forecasts for 15 technologies and five countries (Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates).

Anulekha Shetty of the Public Relations told NaijaAgroNet that the study has been designed to help IT suppliers identify short and long-term opportunities and for health providers to assess the state of the market.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology

Scholarship for 10-day course on ICT, agro-design

NaijaAgroNet:

Scholarship for a 10-day online course on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Design in agriculture and biodiversity issues is now open for interested candidates, reports NaijaAgroNet exclusively.

A researcher and practitioner in the application of Information and Communication Technologies for sustainable development, with focus on agriculture and natural resources management in developing and emerging regions, Prof.  Simone Sala confirmed this to NaijaAgroNet.

According to him, the course will be delivered in January 2015 and will be part of a Master to be held in Italy that will explore how design could contribute to a variety of fields.

He also advised interested and potential students to be mindful of the deadline which is January 10, 2014, just as some scholarships are still available for the course.

NaijaAgroNet also gathered that for instance, part of the course would be Biodiversity 101 which would afford students to learn about the new outputs for the transmission of know-how through the Massive Online Open Courses system applied to biodiversity of the XXI century.

“Together with the Mooc Design 101 team and the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Milan, students will build a system of contents for e-learning in light of Expo2015,” he disclosed, stressing that the teachings will range from videos to other interactive elements and social media that convey digital content to the mass community.

He also revealed to NaijaAgroNet that they are partnering with IdLab, a design company specialised in solving problems of innovation technology. Its variety of competences allows for imagining and realising complex projects where technologic and procedural solutions blend with innovative products and services, for example aesthetics, language, communication, usability, functionality, ambientation, re-use, information, sharing, innovation simplification, interaction and sustainability.

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

... Linking agrobiz, people & technology

'Mobile phones indispensable to smallholder farmers transformation'

NaijaAgroNet:

Director, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, Mr. Michael Hailu has described Information and communication technology (ICT) tools as an indispensable to the transformation of small holder farmers reports NaijaAgroNet.

He made this known to NaijaAgroNet, at a recent conference on ICTs in agriculture in Kigali, Rwanda, which ended at the weekend.

Pan Africa News Agency (PANA) reports that the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is a joint ACP-EU institution active in agricultural and rural development in ACP countries, with the mission to advance food and nutritional security, increase prosperity and encourage sound natural resource management in ACP countries.

Hailu was quoted as saying that on this continent, 65 per cent of the workforce is employed in agriculture and the sector generates 32 per cent of Gross domestic products - GDP. Smallholder farmers, mostly women, produce 80 per cent of Africa’s food,

African countries, he said, spend up to US$ 50 billion a year on food imports, stressing that with abundant land, water and cheap labour, there is no good reason why Africa should import so much food.

“Yet there’s good reason to be optimistic. After years of neglect, governments and the private sector are increasing investments in agriculture,' Hailu said.

To achieve its full potential, he posited that smallholder agriculture must be transformed from a subsistence activity to a profitable, sustainable business and ICTs play a vital role in this transformation.

"They provide timely advice and information. They help farmers increase productivity. They make markets more efficient. And they increase incomes," he said.

Emphasising that in 2000, there were just 16.5 million mobile subscriptions in Africa, 13 years later, there are over 650 million.

"Indeed, the number of people on the continent with access to mobile phones exceeds the number with access to clean water, electricity or a bank account” he said.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that ICT4Ag held under the theme 'The Digital Springboard for Inclusive Agriculture´ Conference, was hosted by CTA, the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) as well as the Ministry of Youth and ICTs (MYICT).

Isaac Oyimah with agency reports/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
Pix: Director, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, Mr. Michael Hailu