Agency Seeks Collaboration For IoT Unlock

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has emphasised the need for collaboration to unlock Nigeria’s potential in Internet of Things (IoT) and its revolutionary impact on the countrys digital ecosystem.
Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, who disclosed this is in a bid to implement the Digital Transformation pillar of Strategic Road Map and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024) of the agency.
Inuwa made this plea while delivering his keynote address at the IoT West Africa Conference and Exhibition 2023 in Lagos State, recently.
The DG noted some challenges that need unlocking in order to access the potentials of IoT, especially infrastructure, cyber security, and data protection, stating  that most IoT use cloud-based solutions  Alexa, Google, and others.
According to him, todays computer systems are outperforming humans in many endeavours, especially the rise of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), chat GPT, etc.
He said that is the fabric of the shift humanity is witnessing in accelerating the convergence between physical, biological, and digital world.
“Looking at the areas you can apply them, such s in agriculture, we need to increase our agri-products, and IoT can help us to do that with lesser human efforts”, he said.
He explained further that there are wearable plant sensors at the moment, which is one of the top technologies in 2023.
The NITDA boss hinted that farmers can have a sensor attached to their plant to manage its health, watering, fertilizer, pesticides, and this would invariably enhance the increase of food produce.
He asserted that by 2050, Nigeria will be the third largest population in the world, therefore, there is need to explore how we can use IoT to increase the countrys food production.
In addition to agriculture, the NITDA Director General discussed the role of IoT in addressing security challenges, saying that IoT devices can monitor activities.

The DG emphasised that IoT could be utilised to enhance oil theft prevention by monitoring pipelines and sending alerts for quick security response.

He advised that there is also the need to develop the talent within the country.