Reliance on foreign softwares and other forms of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products has cost Nigerian companies N25 billion in the last 10 years, said National Office of Technology Acquisition and Promotion. NOTAP, a Federal Government agency that is monitoring, coordinating and promoting acquisition of technology, said statistics at its disposal showed that enormous resources had been expended by different companies, especially the banking sector, to acquire foreign software and other forms of ICT products over the past decade.
A statement signed by NOTAP's Director General, Engineer Umar Bindir, noted that this affects companies in Nigeria that registered their technology transfer agreements with NOTAP. He noted that the trend, which is on the increase, has made NOTAP to undertake with zeal, the pursuit of its mandate through formation of new partnership strategies, to achieve the expected goals of technology transfer, acquisition, diffusion and knowledge development in Information Technology (IT). In his address, Director General of NITDA, Professor Cleopas Angaye, expressed appreciation for the visit, which he said had made him to be well educated on the functions and activities of NOTAP. He informed the delegation of current programmes of NITDA, which included establishment of software development centres in Kano and Lagos, for the training of IT resources, as well as testing and development of software, adding that the centres will also review and streamline ICT programmes in the universities.
