Private software technology companies and private entities like the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), are breaking through barriers and dominating markets by collecting, processing, analysing and distributing data in digital form to help organisations and governments make more informed decisions.
Technology experts say that businesses and governments need to take full advantage of the opportunities created by digital transformation to grow the economy.
Speaking at Market Data Workshop 2019, organised by the NSE on Wednesday September 11, Deremi Atanda, executive director, corporate strategy, Systemspecs, said that technology such as artificial intelligence, data warehousing and analytics will position both private and government organisations to make better informed decisions using the same set of data they’ve always had.
Atanda, who spoke on ‘Data Insights and Market Opportunities’ said that apart from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which is reliable in terms of gathering, processing, analysing and distributing data, private entities have leveraged employee data to significantly transform the credit market in Nigeria in less than two years.
“Data like records of employee earnings, records of their savings, and records of where they have worked can now be converted to advantage because technology has made it less of a struggle to make that data available. We just need to have a digital authentication and approval to make credit available to as many people as possible, and these same set of people are those who have always had funds but didn’t know who to go to,” Atanda told Businessday.
“Similarly, the telcos are also using data to extend credit to customers. All they need to do is to profile your telco usage, and they are able to extend credit to you based on the pattern they’ve seen from your usage,” he noted.
Stakeholders say that the private entities are working with data sets and leveraging technology to grow Nigeria’s economy.
The NSE, a private entity and financial market to trade equity, derivatives and others, is using data to drive economic growth.
Anita Gopaldas, market data specialist at the NSE, said that the bourse had developed several market data products to enhance customer engagement, help listed companies optimise their share price and strengthen the end to end value chain.
The NSE data portal is an online-based application that serves as a repository for realtime, delayed, end –of-day and historical data for all financial instruments listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. It serves as a consolidated, streamlined platform for market participants to access quality and timely data at an affordable rate.
During her presentation, Gopladas explained that the data portal products are divided into two major suites and some of its features include multiple sign on options, acting as a payment gateways and corporate action highlights.
