It has been said so many times that digital transformation is the key to growth in different industries, enterprises and government agencies.
Connectivity which prevails as the panacea for the deployment of digital services and applications for enterprises, government and carriers, has totally transformed the way businesses are managed and government operates, making everything easier, cost efficient, more reliable and quicker. Hence digitisation has become a necessity for economic growth.
Rutger Reman, President and Managing Director, Ericsson Nigeria has said that Nigeria needs to be fully digitised for the good of the economy and the people in it.
Speaking to select journalists last weekend, Reman said Nigeria needs its telecommunications operators, banks, regulators and different ministries to come together to fully digitise the country.
“If these players can come together to facilitate a digital economy, this nation will grow exponentially and the revenue generation would be huge because a lot of money would be saved.”
“For example, the Naira is printed in Malaysia and it costs a lot of money to print the notes and that means hard currency goes out of the country just to print it, and then you still have to pay for security and to bring it back. However, if they push M-commerce and make sure expenditure of cash is reduced to the barest minimum, a massive amount of money will be saved,” Reman said.
Talking about the role of Ericsson in digitising Nigeria, Reman said Ericsson’s 5G, Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud solutions could drive digitisation and transform industries such as health, education, media, banking, retail, transport and utility.
“Mobile is huge in Nigeria and more people use mobile data in this country. Infant, we have over 20 percent mobile broadband penetration in this country and Ericsson networks carry over 40 percent of the world’s mobile traffic.”
Also speaking, Fisayo Araoye, Head of Network Products, Ericsson Nigeria, said the world is going digital and the company was working ahead, creating solutions to support digitisation.
“Our reports have shown that everyone wants to be connected no matter where they are. We spend time moving around but we are not stationary outdoors, however, when we get into buildings, we spend quality time doing different things. So we would soon be looking back at the days when we had no mobile service in lifts, cinemas, on airplanes, lower ground buildings and the rest,” Araoye said.
According to her, “API, a leading technology markets intelligence company forecasts that by 2020, the in building wireless market will more than double to reach about $6 billion with up to 600 percent increase in market size.”
So Ericsson has developed solutions like the Pico RBS 6402, Mainline 6352 and Radio Dot System so that there’s no disruption in the broadcast system and fibre can be brought to the home,” Araoye added.
Oluwaseun Solanke, Head of Digital Services at Ericsson Nigeria said that most companies and government agencies in Nigeria have digital strategies but fail at execution due to lack of an enabling platform.
“The important thing is to have a platform that enables you to role out all these digital projects very quickly without having to invest additional money. What this means is that with the same platform, you can roll out different ideas. From a digital transformation perspective, Ericsson helps to shape that proposition of what you want to do, taking it from concept all the way to reality and helps you manage that solution,” Solanke said.
On the important role of digital transformation in the growth of the economy, Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), recently said “It is in Nigeria’s national interest to harness potentials that exist in the information driven age through the deployment and exploitation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to facilitate socio-economic development and improvement of the human condition.”
According to Danbatta, Nigerians need to look beyond the realm of statistics churned out in the telecommunications sector and start appreciating the role of digital transformation which is positively changing the way businesses and the country is operating.
Jumoke Akiyode
