Dr.Obadare Peter Adewale, an IT and Cybersecurity expert, has warned stakeholders in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector to be ready for the impending Cyber pandemic, which he said is being accelerated by the rapid adoption of IT, occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr.Obadare explained that the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated technology adoption in Nigeria, which he said could cause technology risks that could lead to Cyber pandemic.
Dr. Obadare who is also the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Digital Encode Limited, gave this warning at the 2020 Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture and Awards held on Saturday, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.
Giving further insight, Dr Obadare revealed that IT comes with some inherent risks and that with its massive adoption; we may likely witness Cyber pandemic.
According to him, “Technology has changed our lives and the way we do things as a people, COVID-19 also further accelerated the technology adoption in the country.
“With these massive adoptions we are creating digital champions which May likely lead to technology risks, as more people are embracing technology.”
To prepare the country on the looming crises, Dr. Obadare called on both the government and stakeholders alike to start harnessing the potentials of digital natives.
He stated that there’s need for the country to start engaging and harnessing the positive potentials of these young people, adding however, that we cannot produce the next Mark zuckerberg if we keep neglecting the digital natives.
Equally, the Chief Operating Officer of Digital Encode Limited noted that Cybersecurity can take Nigeria out of recession if properly harnessed.
He emphasized that we can change our fortune as a nation with education, especially, if we take capacity building seriously.
Adding that providing specialized capacity education for our digital natives is what will take Nigeria out of the woods.
He enumerated four focal areas which we should focus on in order to take the nation out of recession, while calling on standard organisation of Nigeria to consolidate on the immense intellectual property resource in the country and make it exportable in order to take the country out of recession.
Earlier, Dr. Chris Uwaje, chairman, Mobile Software Solutions Limited called on IT practitioner to ensure that they bestowed IT culture to the upcoming generation.
According to him, “We are here because we believe in this venture called ICT Nigeria.
“We believe in the digital adventure, but we are doing this, not for us but for the future, the coming generation, we must really bestow something to them.”
He noted that as a nation, we neglect ICT sector which he said holds the future of the nation, while adding that the sector must not be allowed to die.
He said, “We must empower the Nigerian ICT sector to be able to spin better than we met it.
“We need to change our mentality in terms of bringing in the digital natives into the industry.”
Dr, Uwaje added that these digital natives speak technology from the inside.
He called on the organizers of BoICT Awards to ensure that their next keynote speaker is a digital native, someone between the ages of 15 to 25 years because they speak technology from the inside.
“If you look at the ecosystem of those who have been able to puncture technology, they are all digital natives with average age of 25 to 32 years, because they speak technology from the inside.
“We must recover the lost talents of our youths in technology; we can only dialogue for one purpose of creating the future so that ICT will not die.”
