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Just 17 years ago, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared, and they were bankrupt.
This may happen to the Computer Society of Nigeria in the next 10 years – even if we don’t see it coming. Kodak was not the only casualty. There were also Sony and Fuji who made tons of money selling Cameras and films; especially films. We have always loved our pictures ask Facebook and Instagram what their successful business model is based upon.
Indeed, who is not excited by the flash of the camera lights in their faces? Today you are sure that the flash of the mobile phone signals a picture, but in those days the photographer just continued flashing away even when he ran out of a film, just to keep the crowd happy.
It is rather ironic that the geometric growth in photography was negatively correlated to the fortunes of these photography giants. As we tend more towards a knowledge-based economy led by technology, the fortunes of the NCS seem ironical to be negatively correlated. The issue seems to be an ardent aversion to embracing change and innovation.
When the destructive Polaroid technology was invented to bypass the paper film, these industry leaders ensured its swift death by studiously ignoring the innovation. What they did not see coming were the tech companies who would eat not only their breakfast but also their lunch and dinner as well.
The likes of Apple and Samsung who neither used paper films nor Polaroid paper. Just seamlessly click away and take as many pictures as you like, and you can even customize the pictures to look much more beautiful or handsome. Sometimes you have to disrupt yourself to emerge a better and more effective you. We have to learn to unlearn and relearn.
What worked perfectly many years ago may not work today and certainly not tomorrow; that is the inevitability of innovation and change. The camera and paper film industry is by no means the only casualty of disruption. Look no further than Uber and AirBnB to see how the taxi and hotel industries have been disrupted. And more significant disruption is certainly coming by way of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Cognitive Computing.
Think of all the drivers that will lose their jobs to driverless cars and many of us that may lose our jobs to IBM’s Watson. Our beloved NCS is in danger of becoming irrelevant…
Did Mark Zuckerberg visit or even acknowledge us when he visited Nigeria? When Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on June 11, 2017, named 28 Tech Entrepreneurs into the Advisory Group on Technology and Creativity, was NCS consulted?
I remember as a student being a very proud Student member of the Computer Association of Nigeria and attending many insightful conferences. While we have gone through two name changes from CAN to COAN to NCS, nothing more seems to have changed. Are we in touch with our millennials today?
Do we have any connection with Government technology Agencies such as NITDA and NIGCOMSAT? Do we make any inputs or contribution into Government technology strategy policy? I ask these questions because it seems that a myriad of other groups has emerged that are filling out relevant vacancies.
Take for instance a WhatsApp Group called Fintech 1000, to which I belong. They have a crisp and clear vision and purpose. It seems that all the leading technology leaders are on that platform because they identify with the vision and want to contribute to achieving it. They have very meaningful interaction, and some of their initiatives and input into Fintech policy documents will make us green with envy.
Her members include the CEOs of budding young innovative companies such as Paystack, Paga, flutterwave and established ones such as CWG, Interswitch, Chams etc. Many banks and telecoms leaders across Africa regularly make contributions. People join an Organization because they identify with the vision, which should be inspirational and aspirational enough to attract them.
They want their presence and contribution to meaningfully impact their society…
How many people still remember the vision of the NCS? It is possible that the old vision has run its course and we need to craft a new direction for ourselves, in these rapidly changing times.
Is our foundation vision robust enough to stand the test of this fourth industrial revolution? We used to be a very large association and found comfort in our numbers. Things have changed, neither age nor size guarantees relevance; in those days we used to say that the big fish will eat the small fish. Today, it is the fast fish that eats the slow fish.
Perhaps some of the advocacy that could make the NCS more relevant would be championing the campaign for Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Partners of our local companies to shoulder their own tax burden than leaving it all onto the local partner, even though the major part of the deal goes to the OEM. The local Partner is therefore left with a huge withholding tax burden on his meagre margin and is chronically cash-strapped, leading to anaemic growth if at all.
Another advocacy point could be campaigning for the OEMs to accept their portion of payments in local currency, as currently happens in Kenya; so that the local company is not left alone to bear the exchange risk.
I charge us to recommit and re-imagine our beloved Association, the NCS. Posterity will judge us harshly if the NCS becomes extinct under our watch. The best time to act was 10 years ago. The next best time is now.
Austin Okere is the Founder of CWG Plc and the Ausso Leadership Academy.
Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson
