Centre for Cyber Awareness and Development (CECAD), promoter and organizer of this year’s World Wide Web celebration in Nigeria, which is scheduled for August 5th has adduced reasons why Nigeria as a country and corporate organisations should participate in the global celebration.
According to CECAD, Nigeria has made a commendable impact in the growth of broadband and internet-based innovations. Thus, the country with over 154.3 million basic Internet users cannot be left out of such a global celebration.
“The growth of the Internet has led to the development of digital technologies helping to transform the economy of the country in several ways, such as reducing information and transaction costs, creating new collaborative models to increase the efficiency of workers, promoting innovation, and improving education and developing societies,” said Dr. Bayero Agabi, National Coordinator of CECAD, at an interactive session with selected Journalists in Lagos.
He argued that the internet and its related technologies played a major role in the growth and performance of the digital economy, which took the country out of recession in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a contribution of 12.45% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The digital economy sector, powered by the Internet grew by 17.64 percent in Q4 2020 from 17.36 percent in Q3 2020 and 10.26 percent in Q4 2019. Additionally, investment also grew from about $38 billion in 2015 to over $70 billion currently.
Meanwhile, broadband penetration moved from 6 percent in 2015 to 45.02 percent in December 2020, indicating that 85.9 million Nigerians are now connected on 3G and 4G networks which provide enhanced high-speed Internet that has continued to boost efficiency and increase productivity across the economic spectrum.
Recent statistics also indicate that between 2015 and December 2020, active voice subscriptions have increased from 151 million to 204.6 million, with teledensity standing at 107.18 percent with basic active internet subscriptions growing from 90 million to 154.3 million during the period.
The World Wide Web Day is a global celebration dedicated to web browsing, online activity that brings a wealth of knowledge to your fingertips. It is a chance to celebrate the way the internet has created an environment for collaboration and business growth while also taking a deeper look into its evolution over the past three decades since its invention by Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
The Nigeria event celebration will chronicle the impact of the internet, the best ways to use the internet for good and economic development, its impact on the media, business, governance, youth empowerment and entrepreneurship.
The event is put together by CECAD and Cyber Africa magazine is in commemoration with support from organisations such Medallion Communications, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, PFS, the Nigerian Communications Commission, Wema Bank NIRA, ITPulse, CKN News and National daily newspaper.
The conference is a celebration of the impact of the internet, gathering of stakeholders to discuss the opportunities of emerging technologies for business, raising additional awareness and exploring the strategies of safety on the web for individuals and businesses, infrastructure companies, innovators.
The event will also look at policies to grow the space and the Nigerian information society through creating a sustainable digital economy. The event, scheduled to hold at De Renaissance Hotel, G.R.A, Lagos provides a platform for Sharing organizational vision and strategic plans to drive the National ICT revolution and the digital space.