Nigeria has received a donation of $1 million for the improvement of information and communication technology in Nigeria, the promotion of innovative ideas, and research that will contribute to the country’s development.
The donation was made by Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited to Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) an ICT organisation established by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) in 2004.
The Digital Bridge Institute was created to offer training to entrepreneurs, promote research and serve as a tool to drive advocacy and policy developments across the country. The donation is a boost to Nigeria’s innovation ideas lacking funding or equipment support.
The DBI inaugurated the GSM/ UMTS telecommunications network equipment laboratory recently in Abuja in the presence of officials from the NCC, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Police Force, and Nigeria Immigration Service.
Representatives from Huawei Technologies also witnessed at the inauguration ceremony of the facility which is equipped with optical fibre nodes, wireless radio access nodes and next-generation core switching network.
Importance of the lab
The Chairman, Governing Board, DBI, Titi Omo-Ettu, said the facility is a leap for hands-on practical, and gives Nigeria a chance in the global shift to human resources from natural resources.
“This laboratory represents a leap in the efforts of the institute to provide qualitative hands-on practical telecommunications and ICT training in line with its core mandate of building functional skills.
“This is especially given that the development of the skilled workforce across all sectors of the economy has become national priority. We are aware that there is a global shift from natural resources as a basis for national competitiveness to human resources underpinned by knowledge and innovation which has enabled other countries such as China to achieve rapid and sustained economic growth.”
Background into the lab
The laboratory started in July 2018 with the donation of a complement of telecommunications equipment by Huawei Technologies, the administrator of DBI, Ike Adinde, explained.
“This was followed with the installation of the equipment at DBI headquarters in Abuja by industry experts. We are proud to note that the laboratory is equipped with transmission equipment such as Optical Fiber-SDH, WDM, and microwave radio, 2G/3G wireless radio access nodes and next-generation core network switching centre, which gives a complete end-to-end telecoms scenario. With an estimated worth of around $1m, the laboratory is fully set for learning purposes.” He added.
