…assures tech will remain core of ongoing transformation
By Nosakhare Agbonigiarhuoyi
The Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has declared open the maiden edition of the Edo Innovates Technology Conference holding at the Sir Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub on Airport Road, Benin City.
The Conference, with the theme: “Innovation, Solutions and Talent; Driving the Economies of the Future”, is aimed at providing tech talents and start-ups a safe platform to network and collaborate; build local solutions within their environment; showcase their skills and broaden their horizon.
It is also designed to strengthen the Nigerian technology ecosystem, with Edo serving at the epicenter to foster public-private partnerships within the tech space.
According to the Governor, the theme of the conference is very apt as it speaks to the efforts being made in positioning the State strategically to tap from the 4th industrial revolution.
He said: “For us, it’s about young people. It’s about the future; and that’s why as a government, we will not spare any resources to make sure that we invest in our young people; because it’s about tomorrow.
“Our goal as a government is to help you unpack these latent talents and give you the opportunity so that you can proffer solutions to our problems and your problems using technology.”
Obaseki added: “Today in our world technology remains the core of our transformation agenda as a government. We will continue to emphasize youth development because you are the ones who will help us expand our economy.
“We have created an ecosystem that will sustain the emerging industries in Edo and in our country, which include outsourcing of talented programs to global companies, rechanneling energies of our young ones to dominate the knowledge economy and exploit the creative talents for the expansion of the creative industry.”
On his part, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital Transformation, Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, commended the Edo State government for its focus on technology and innovation through the Edo State Skills Development Agency.
He also stated that the governor has made a commitment to domesticate the Nigeria Startup Act.
The Act makes specific provisions to promote talent development, scale the businesses of startups and ultimately establish Nigeria as a Startup.
The highlights of the event were presentations by three teams that developed education software applications that will aid learning.
At the end of the presentations, the Governor promised each team the sum of one million naira each.
The conference is being organized in partnership with the German Government and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (also known as GIZ), Google Developers Group, Globacom Limited and Songhai Labs.
The event is scheduled to end on Saturday, December 3, 2022
