Funding R&D critical to meeting customers needs, says NCC chief
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Providing funding for research and development is pivotal to making sure that customers’ needs are met, Umar Dambatta, executive vice chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission has stated.
At the inauguration of a 15-man evaluation committee tasked with the assessment of research-based proposals received from members of the academia in Nigeria’s higher institutions, Danbatta said the commission is committed to encouraging research that will birth creative indigenous solutions that will help better the nation’s economy.
“We want to continuously support research projects that can lead to the development of new products and services in the industry as the key enabler of the nation’s digital economy. We are all aware of the appreciable contributions of the Nigerian telecommunication sector to the growth of our GDP [gross domestic product] over the years, which peaked at 14.53 per cent in second quarter of 2020,” Dambatta said.
The NCC had in June, requested for proposals from academics in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions with ingenious ideas that have the potential of either enhancing or replacing foreign solutions in the Nigerian telecoms sector. It outlined the areas of research focus to be innovative clean energy technology, 5g deployment in Nigeria, iot low power wide area network (wan) technology, advanced method of quality of service (QoS)/quality of experience management and test mechanism, and monitoring and localisation of drones.
Addressing the 15-man committee charged with reviewing the submitted applications, Danbatta called on the members to make sure that the best ideas are identified. He expressed confidence in their ability to do their job properly.
“Members of this Committee have been carefully selected from the Academia, related government institutions and the industry based on their pedigree. I have no doubt in my mind that you will carry out the assignment to the highest acceptable standards,” he concluded.
The committee is chaired by Prof. Mu’azu Bashir, a professor of Computer and Control Engineering and Head of Computer Engineering Department at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.