This Day – The Lagos State Ministry of Science and Technology has announced its partnership with Microsoft and Oracle, designed to boost Information and Communications Technology (ICT) service offerings in the state.
Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Adebiyi Mabadeje, who made the disclosure at a recent press briefing on the proposed and ongoing projects being carried out by the state within the last ten months, said the state was collaborating with the technological companies, through a signed memorandum of understanding (MOU), to address citizens relationship management, performance management, health, education and vocational training. He said 100 persons had already been trained in the area of Computer-based Testing (CBT), adding that the idea is to train teachers and principals of schools who will in turn prepare the students of Lagos State public schools on computer based testing.
The commissioner further spoke on the ministry’s introduction of Main One Cable Company to support the existing service provider to improve network and internet connectivity. He said the state had launched the cyber safety awareness campaign, which was organised to create awareness on internet dangers. The commissioner said the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics programme (STEM), organised by the ministry, which holds every year has helped to boost Science and Mathematics studies among public school pupils in the state. According to him, the state increased the number of participating students from 60 to 300 and from one day training to one week. Furthermore, he said the Lagos E-Learning Centre is doing well, and has already made Lagos the innovation hub in Africa. The state, he added, has also embarked on the registration of all residents in Lagos, and expressed the need for all those resident of Lagos to be part of the exercise, insisting that the registration exercise will help the state to have a database of the population of the state, in order to help government plan and province adequate infrastructure for the people of Lagos.
“The ministry is currently executing two projects, The Sciences Park which will be located around Rainbow Lekki, and the Internet City located at Katangura in Lagos. A committee has been set up to take care of the completion of the sites, which is expected to create additional jobs as all technology companies and service providers will be relocated to this site by the first quarter of next year,” Mabadeje said. To further boost development in the state, the commissioner said ” The ministry also promised to provide grants up to a maximum of N200 million for those carrying out research and developmental programmes from both Polytechnics and Universities, whose projects are geared towards the development of the state.
Other ongoing projects of the ministry are the Metro Broadband Network, and the Information Technology (IT) collaboration between the state, telecommunications companies and IT related companies in the state. The ministry, according to the commissioner, would drive Metro Broadband Network, aimed at increasing internet penetration in the state, by leveraging on the several submarine fibre optic cables that have already berthed in Lagos.