Ericsson and UNICEF have announced a global partnership to help map school connectivity in 35 countries by the end of 2023. Mapping the internet connectivity landscape for schools and their surrounding communities is a critical first step towards providing every child with access to digital learning opportunities. This joint effort is part of the Giga initiative. Launched last year and led by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Giga aims to connect every school to the internet. Ericsson is the first private sector partner to make a multimillion-dollar commitment to the initiative and does so as a Global UNICEF…
Author: DigitalTimesNG
Unacast, an award-winning location platform and analytics firm, and MTN Nigeria, a leading mobile telecommunications provider, have announced a partnership in which the two will use privacy-friendly, aggregated and anonymized, human mobility insights derived from MTN’s network data, to make available a version of Unacast’s recognized and widely used COVID-19 Social Distancing Scoreboard for Nigerian citizens and officials. The companies will together provide this easy-to-use dataset on a pro-bono basis to enable public officials, public health leaders and other organizations, and the public itself to understand and convey the importance of social distancing in fighting the spread of COVID-19. “Social distancing has proven…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and its Executive Vice Chairman, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta have continued to receive more awards in recognition of the critical role the Commission has been playing in keeping Nigerians and businesses connected since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The latest of such awards is that of ‘Human Rights Telecoms Defender’ Award for the EVC and the ‘Human Rights Guard’ Award for the Commission, as a corporate entity, presented by Wheel of Hope Human Rights Foundation (WHHRF), a frontline Nigerian Non-Governmental Organisation. The third award, ‘Icon of a Greater Nigeria’ was presented to the EVC by…
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed how a total of 9,077 cases of service outages on the networks of major mobile network operators (MNO) were recorded in the second quarter of the year, resulting in unexpected disruptions to operators’ network quality of service (QoS) delivery and intermittent quality of experience (QoE) by the consumers. This disclosure was made by the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM) at the NCC, Mr Adeleke Adewolu, in a presentation delivered during the first Virtual Telecoms Consumer Parliament (VTCP) hosted by the Commission recently in Abuja. Adewolu said that of the 9,077 service outages recorded…
Minister of Communications & Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami has said that the growing contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP is a direct result of the focused and committed effort of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. An elated Pantami said the strategic policy directions of the Federal Government include the inclusion of Digital Economy in the mandate of the Ministry, the unveiling and implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and the National Broadband Plan, amongst others. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday released ‘Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product Report’ for Q2 2020,…
Minister for Communications and Digital Economy Dr Isa Ali Pantami has declared that Nigeria needs to reboot the entire ecosystem with digital technology in order to survive the present regressive economic outlook as a result of Covid-19 disruption. The Minister stated this recently at the 2nd edition of the Re-Ignite Public Affairs National Dialogue Series held in partnership with Businessday Media. “Since the global lockdown earlier in the year, digital commerce has become the most efficient growth area providing the world new ways of doing things as encapsulated in the ‘New Normal’ pseudo phrase”, Dr Pantami disclosed. With the theme, “Nigeria…
The various projects being executed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other agencies under the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMoCDE) have been adding significant value to the digital transformation journey of Nigeria. This was the view of the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta during the 4th phase of the virtual commissioning of additional 12 digital economy projects implemented by agencies under the Ministry by the Minister, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, which also coincided with the Minister’s one year anniversary in office. Danbatta who commended the…
Some of Fintech’s biggest names – including Credit Karma, Monzo and Varo – have joined a new coalition to fight racial inequality in the industry, according to a report by Finextra. With the Black Lives Matter movement gathering momentum in the wake of George Floyd’s killing in May, the Fintech sector, like many others, has been reflecting on its own failings when it comes to race. Spearheaded by Betterment, the new Fintech Equality Coalition is vowing to actively fight inequality within the industry and wider society. Specifically, the group acknowledges that the black community is underserved by financial services. In…
MTN Group Wednesday announced that the current group CFO of MTN Group, Ralph Mupita, has been appointed as the new group president and CEO with effect from 1 September 2020. Ralph has served as the MTN Group CFO since April 2017 and has played a critical role in the development and execution of the group’s strategy, capital allocation processes, financial performance as well as in the resolution of a number of complex regulatory matters. MTN Group chairman Mr Mcebisi Jonas said: “After a rigorous and extensive search process, we are pleased to have appointed someone of Ralph’s calibre, experience and…
Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has disclosed that the Agency has identified the university as a key stakeholder in achieving the nation’s digital economy. Abdullahi made this known while receiving a delegation from Yusuf Maitama Sule North-West University, Kano, led by the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Aliyu Musa. The delegation was on a courtesy visit to NITDA’s Corporate Headquarters to seek for the Agency’s intervention in the area of IT deployment and training. Abdullahi stated that the greatest resources needed in achieving a developed country in terms of technology, innovations and entrepreneurship is human capital,…