The efforts of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) to ensure the country’s software strategy attains international standards have been recognized and commended by the United Nations (UN).
The comments in the 2012 Information Economy Report: The Software Industry and Developing Countries is the first time the Nigeria Software Strategic Initiative will be receiving a commendation from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Documentation.
Addressing Chris Uwaje, President of ISPON, the UN’s Torbjor Fredriksson, of the UN, said: “I would also like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for your contribution, which is acknowledged in the Report, I hope you will find the publication interesting and relevant.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, described ICT as a medium for societal transfomation.
“Information and Communications Technologies continue to transform our society. In recent years, we have seen dramatically improved access to mobile telephones, the internet and broadband connectivity throughout the developing world. These trends are gradually helping to dismantle barriers towards the goal of an ‘information society for all’, agreed by world leaders at the World Summit on Information Society. Such a society depends on software,” Ban Ki-moon said.
In his response, Uwaje, described the UN report as wake-up call for Nigeria.
“The UN 126 page report on the software industry and developing countries is not just a critical wake-up call for Nigeria, but has significantly vindicated the ISPON mission and advocacy on national software strategy in the past 14 years.
“It is an instructive directive that will ensure that Nigeria’s strategic document of national software policy framework is given accelerated approval by President Goodluck Jonathan and its relevant portions and enacted into an Act of the National Assembly without further delay,” Uwaje said.
