As the Global Internet penetration rates continue to rise with about 40 percent of the world's population online, developing nations which have developed or are developing National Broadband Plans have been urged to learn from countries that had done so earlier such as the United Kingdom, in order to assess the different stages of broadband development and adopt best strategies to forge ahead.
Nigeria's Minister for Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson made the call on Monday in her welcome remarks at the 2013 Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) Forum in Abuja.
The Minister prioritized the need for CTO member states to make high-speed access to the Internet more pervasive, affordable and safe to the citizens of the Commonwealth, who she said, make up close to 30 percent of the World's population.
"While an increasing number of countries, including Nigeria, have recently developed or are developing National Broadband Plans; countries that had done so earlier (such as the United Kingdom) provide important opportunities to learn about the implementation of such plans. These countries provide valuable insights on what works and why; as well as what can be improved upon and what to avoid during implementation", stated the Minister.
According to Mrs. Johnson this topic is one that would be instructive in increasing Internet penetration rates in developing countries, noting that the numbers of people connected to the Internet are fewer in developing countries than in more industrialised ones.
She further charged the Forum to prioritize the deployment of Information Communication Technologies and the Social Media for sustainable infrastructure development, security concerns and data management as well as the development of an understanding of how cloud computing has revolutionised e-governance, e-health and e-accessibility policies and initiatives.
"Nigeria recently became the location of the largest user base of Facebook users in Sub Saharan Africa. About half of the 11 million Nigeria users are under the age of 25 (5.6million), which perhaps underscores the importance of understanding how young people make use of ICTs. However, beyond knowing who is using social media, this Forum will discuss ways in which such tools can be leveraged as a platform for development, learning and increasing communication.
"Internet penetration is fastest amongst the Youth. This is not surprising as young people, when they can afford them, are predominantly early adopters of technology. The youth are also the fastest-rising population group and it is therefore apt that this Forum will focus on the use of ICTs by young people, including how they use such technologies to engage on governance and developmental issues.
"There is no denying the increasing influence of social media. Just as the "Big Mac Index" has developed to be the informal way of measuring the purchasing power parity between inhabitants of different countries; the number of Facebook users is becoming an informal indication of the social media activity of a country", the Communications Technology Minister stated.
In addition, Mrs. Johnson made case for the development and empowerment of women through ICTs. She said "Women make up about 50 percent of the population of the World and we cannot hope to achieve our socio-economic and development goals whilst isolating half of our potential. The success of our policies and initiatives depends on our ability to accurately identify the scale and nature of the gender divide that we are striving to bridge".
The theme of this year's Forum is 'Innovation Through Broadband'.
Source: Minister urges developing nations to consider U.K model in broadband implementation (http://fmi.gov.ng/latest/31838/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=minister-urges-developing-nations-to-consider-u-k-model-in-broadband-implementation)
Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria