Jacques Van Schalkwyk, general manager Sub-Saharan Africa at Intel Corp has emphasized the need for government to pay attention to broadband connectivity by making sure that the right regulatory environment is put in place with the right spectrums and bandwidths  being allocated. He said also that the right policies should be made around education.
Schalkwyk, observed the hunger and high desire for the adoption of new technologies in Nigeria and said Intel as a matter of fact is ready to collaborate a lot more with both the private and public sector in a bid to jointly tackle some of the big issues than what had been seen in the past. Looking at it from the usage models perspective, Schalkwyk said “you will observe that this is also evolving. For instance, media delivery over the Internet is becoming a reality.”

“Nigeria is increasingly becoming a more focused usable society as well for people to communicate with relatives abroad or business people to exchange ideas. But there are some challenges like credit systems being in state of instability. However, there is somewhere to go. In general, I think the feedback I am getting is that the latest technologies are being implemented; there is really the intent for that change to happen. And people are striving step by step forward to drive change”, Schalkwyk disclosed

Speaking on competition, he said mobile is going very fast and that mobile technology market will continue to grow. The overall growth even in a fairly tight environment and the available market according to him is becoming impressive and promising.  He said this year was a particularly tough year everywhere in the world but, there have been good signs of recovery, even in Nigeria believing that the growth and transformation are as a result of the adoption of technology all over the world.

Van Schalkwyk explained Intel’s involvement in corporate social responsibility and said there is a component of corporate social responsibility in Intel as it is essentially a company that is concerned about the well-being of the communities where it operates. At the same time, he said if you look at the activities they are involved in, you notice they are drivers for ICT adoption and growth. “At the end of the day, ICT adoption means more PCs being sought. So I think it is creating the man and also doing the right thing. It is good business because it has to do with human development.” he said.

Keeping afloat in the era of economic recession, Schalkwyk foresees demand especially in the consumer market coming back worldwide saying there are two drivers of this new development. First, according to him  are the new users coming to the Internet, and that is what we mean by connecting the next one billion people; people who never owned laptops before, who are buying new laptops into their homes.
Another component, he said  obviously is a very fresh market. There are a number of reasons for people to do that which are hinged on usage models, the process in demand behind those usage models. Just look at the digital camera for instance; every year new cameras come with higher mega pixels. Video conferencing is becoming a reality. People are skyping. We shall continue to see new people come into the Internet. We shall continue to see new usage models evolving for that niche technology. Intel will continue to invest in future technologies.
How do you react to Intel’s domination of the market?
We certainly do not see ourself intensely dominating but we do compete rather fairly. And as we drive new technologies, we want to be leaders, help in developing communities and continue to sponsor programmes that will encourage and promote technology adoption.
How committed is government in all of these partnerships?
Like every other place in the world, government has so much money to spend at any given time. Everybody would want to have a government that is rich enough. With my experience in Nigeria working with the government, it is not deliberate for the government to delay in the adoption of technology. One area I think we have to look at and which needs attention and acceleration, is broadband connectivity. We should make sure that the right regulatory environment is put in place and that the right spectrums and bandwidths are allocated. We should make sure too that the right policies are made around education. Those are some of the challenges that cannot be tackled overnight.
How successful is the Computer for All Nigerians initiative (CANi)?
CANi is successful and continues to run; I can’t be specific about the volumes behind it. The programme is up and running. But I don’t think that should be an indicator of the slowdown within technology adoption because we see a share of our business which was traditionally a government thing shifting; and of course the revenue shifting towards the consumer. At the end of the day, the CANi products will end up in the hands of the consumer.
At the time CANi was launched, there were no PC retail shops in the country but all that has changed now as you can now see retail shops selling PCs. This you couldn’t see about four years ago. It has now become a consumer market. And if that is the end result then, CANi has done a good job.
Intel is always upgrading its products, why is this so?
Technology has increased in performance and the price over the years has actually dropped. Certainly, new technologies have benefited the consumer. The reason why we are still in business is because we bring out new technologies. Companies who do not innovate, who do not maintain leadership, how can they expect competition, which is the core of business? And there is a specific need for that evolution. There is an absolute need to continuously innovate.