The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, has said that the early involvement of youngsters in technology will accelerate development of the IT sector and create future leaders who will transform the Nigerian technology space and boost the Nigerian Digital Economy.
The DG who said this during the graduation of over 300 kids trained at the STEM Bootcamp for Kids (SB4KIDS) in Lagos said that as the nation match towards the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), there is a need for a new strategy and innovative approaches to STEM education, such as the introduction of Artificial intelligence (AI), Robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other emerging technologies into the educational system to boost the quality of education, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, which is fast deteriorating in the country as evident from the recent performance of students in major national examinations.
He said NITDA is particularly pleased with the emergence of the SB4KIDS event that is aimed at bridging the gap that currently exists in our educational sector.
“This Stem Bootcamp for Kids triggers our interest at NITDA and resonates deeply with our ongoing efforts toward implementing the National Digital economy policy for digital Nigeria. Our mandate is to create a framework for the planning, research, development, and standardization application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices in Nigeria,” he said.
The NITDA boss, who was represented by Mrs Jumoke Alaka, Manager, Southwest Zonal office, NITDA, stated that the agency remains committed to supporting campaigns to diversify the country’s economy from a resource-based to a knowledge-based one through Information Technology (IT).
“We are indeed proud to be part of this event.
It is my pleasure to introduce to you National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), the arm of NITDA meant to drive R&D and innovation in the areas of emerging technologies.” He pointed out that NCAIR is one of NITDA’s special purpose vehicles created to promote research and development on emerging technologies and their practical application in areas of Nigeria’s national interest.
Kids across spectrums of the society were trained by NCAIR, a training organ of NITDA on Coding, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Drone. Digital Communications, Embedded Systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), Virtual Reality, and 3D requisite skill-set for the 4th Industrial Revolution.
“As an NCAIR’s catch-them-young initiative, the SB4KIDS is a Bootcamp to inspire young Nigerians in STEM. Through the SB4Kids, NCAIR engages youngsters between the age of 8 and 16 years in an immersive and well-articulated Bootcamp meant to coach and inspire them to imbibe STEM passion and create an early interest in digital and emerging technologies, which will hopefully shape their future careers in these fields. NITDA SB4Kids is a yearly initiative, normally conducted during the summer school holidays.”
