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Digital Encode Scoops 7 Awards @ BoICT 2020
Digital Encode, a leading consulting and integration firm, has received industry-wide accolades, for the specialties in the design, management and security of business-critical networks, telecommunications environment and other IT infrastructures, in Nigeria and indeed Africa.
After receiving massive votes, the team from Digital Encode received standing ovation at the year 2020 Beacon of Information and Communications Technology (BoICT) Lecture/Awards held on Saturday, November 28, 2020 at Eko Hotel Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
A range of awards won by Digital Encode Limited and the Co-Founders: Dr, Adewale Obadare and Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, at the 2020 BoICT Lecture/Awards held in Lagos over the weekend.
On a corporate level, Digital Encode was named the Cybersecurity Company of the Decade. Communications Week Media Limited, organisers of the award also disclosed that Digital Encode was voted the Compliance Advisory Company of the Decade.
At Digital Encode, technology serves two purposes: to save money and solve a problem.
To this end, the company has been recognized in the industry for its vendor independent perspective and expertise that lies in solving multifaceted, complex enterprise network security and audit problems.
Today, Digital Encode is notable for its effective and successful methodology for achieving compliance to ISO 27001 (IMS); ISO 20000 (ITIL), ISO 22301 (BCM), ISO 9001 (QMS) and several other international compliance standards such as COBIT and PCI DSS compliance.
The duo – Dr. Obadare and Dr. Akindeinde received (joint) Nigeria CommunicationsWeek Man of the Year award.
Digital Encode Limited and the Co-Founders: Dr, Adewale Peter Obadare (L) and Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde (3rd right) receiving the Nigeria CommunicationsWeek ‘Man of the Year award’. On hand to present the award are the former President of the Institute of Software Practitioner of Nigeria (ISPON – 3rd left), Chris Uwaje and the Publisher of the Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, Ken Nwogbo (L), at the 2020 BoICT Lecture/Awards held in Lagos over the weekend.
Dr. Obadare Peter Adewale is arguably the most “Credentialed” and Multi-Award winning Pan- African Cybersecurity & GRC Thought Leader, He is a Fellow British Computer Society (FBCS), Fellow Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC), Fellow Institute of Information Management (FIIM), Fellow Enterprise Security Risk Management (FESRM), Fellow Institute of Brand Management (FIBM), Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP), The First PECB Certified Data Protection Officer (CDPO) in Nigeria, The First Ec-Council Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT) in Africa, First Ec-Council Certified Blockchain in Africa, and Second COBIT 5 Certified Assessor in Africa Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Qualified Security Assessor (PCI DSS QSA).
He is a seasoned cybersecurity Expert and GRC Technopreneur with over 50 (Fifty) international professional certifications to his credit and was awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree in Cybersecurity from Trinity International University of Ambassadors Atlanta Georgia, United State of America.
Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde has 18 years working experience in the IT and Information Security arena, but has spent the better part of the last few years exploring the security issues faced by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) and the Financial Transaction Systems (FTS).
He has mostly presented the outcome of his research works at several conferences; including the Information Security Society of Africa Nigeria (ISSAN), the E-Payment Forum, the Electronic Payment Providers Association, the Forum of the Committee of Chief Inspectors of Banks in Nigeria (CCIBN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), the apex bank – Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as well as the senior management of 17 top financial institutions in Nigeria.
Presenting the awards to the recipients, Former President, Institute of Software Practitioner of Nigeria (ISPON) and the current MD of Mobile Software Solutions, Chris Uwaje, (Oracle), described Digital Encode as a ‘fruitful seed’ that has distinguished itself in the African cybersecurity space.
Digital Encode Co-Founders – Dr. Adewale Peter Obadare & Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde receiving Digital Encode’s Cybersecurity Company of the Decade at BoICT Award 2020 as presented by the President, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Muhammad Rudman, at the 2020 BoICT Lecture/Awards held in Lagos over the weekend.
“I recall that team Dr. Obadare and Dr. Akindeinde are members of the team Nigeria in 2012 CyberLympics. That team conquered Africa and won gold at the global level. They repeated the feat in 2015.
“Today, see how far Digital Encode has gone; they have demonstrated resilience, skills and understanding of that space. I am super-proud of the team. The future is even brighter”, he said.
Ken Nwogbo, publisher/editor in-chief, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, said that the awards are testaments to Digital Encode’s critical role in the Continent’s cybersecurity space.
He said that the co-founders are well-recognized subject matter experts with numerous successful engagements to their credit in Africa.
Earlier in his keynote presentation titled: “Cybersecurity and its Critical Role in Nigeria Economy”, Dr. Obadare, said that cybersecurity can take Nigeria out of recession.
According to him, Nigeria needs to engage the digital natives more as IT is, presently, the elephant in the house that cannot be ignored.
“Check Point has predicted that next global crisis will be the Cyber Pandemic. Much is at stake.
“Thus, Cyber Crime is currently the 3rd biggest economy after U.S. and China as can be deduced from the rising losses which are put at $10.5trillion by 2025; according to Cybersecurity Ventures”, he said.
Co-Founder/COO of Digital Encode Limited, Dr. Adewale Peter Obadare, delivering BoICT keynote lecture at the Award ceremony held in Lagos over the weekend.
Obadare, who said that the keyboard is the new knife, stressed that Nigeria’s software industry should be bigger than it is today.
“Therefore, there is a need to build capacity to compete internationally”, he said while thanking Nigeria CommunicationsWeek for the Digital Encode at this year’s BoICT Lecture/Awards.
On his part, Dr Akindeinde, said that while every well-meaning Nigeria must condemn cybercrimes in the strongest of terms, however, the Company is concerned with the need to harvest the talents of our youngsters and transform them to become more productive to the economy and themselves.
“We have just been told that the global market needs 4 million skilled cybersecurity experts. Nigeria can benefit from this big time. So, we feel really honoured by the awards and testimonies shared here today. Our promise is to keep raising the bar”, he added.
Also present at the award include; President, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Engr, Ikechukwu Nnamani; President, Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Mr. Muhammad Rudman; the President of ISPON was represented by the GMD of Fintrak Software, Mr. Bimbo Abioye, amongst other dignitaries.
Dr Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, has revealed that the federal government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme has trained over 135,000 citizens as it moves from pilot to national level.
Tijani announced this in an update on the program’s success, stating that the beneficiaries were trained in three batches.
He also stated that the initiative’s community-based learning tools had provided over 300,000 extra learners with access to digital skills training across the country.
According to the minister, the program has also enabled the creation of about 15,000 job, entrepreneurship, and career development in Nigeria’s developing digital economy.
He further revealed that more than 1.8 million Nigerians are currently in the 3MTT pipeline, as the government works toward its target of equipping three million citizens with in-demand digital skills aligned with local and global labour market needs.
As the programme enters its scale-up phase, Tijani said the government’s focus will shift toward deepening impact rather than just expanding numbers.
Key priorities, he explained, include strengthening the 3MTT alumni community, widening access to economic opportunities and ensuring that skills acquired through the programme translate into measurable outcomes such as jobs, business creation and innovation.
To support this phase, the federal government has introduced the #3MTTImpactChallenge, an initiative aimed at assessing the programme’s real-world impact
Through the challenge, fellows and partners are invited to share personal stories on how 3MTT has shaped their professional journeys as part of a National Impact Reflection exercise.
Participants are expected to share their experiences across social media platforms, with selected winners set to receive prizes including laptops, e-tablets, data bundles and other incentives.
MTN Foundation has kicked off the seventh phase of its ICT business skills training programme, targeting more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, mostly from Nigeria’s small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), in support of the Federal Government’s National Digital Economy and SME Development agenda.
MTN Foundation
The virtual training’s first week ran from Monday, January 5, to Friday, January 9, 2026. It equips small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs with simple digital tools to shift from paper-based operations to efficient, productivity-boosting systems.
Business analyst Babajide Jolaolu-Kehinde, moderated by Temiloluwa Oyekanmi, programme and partnerships lead, introduced the SWOT framework—Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats—to guide participants in assessing and improving their businesses.
Jolaolu-Kehinde stressed digital record-keeping, online payments, and customer data tracking for measurable growth, aligning with government efforts to formalise SMEs. “Hope is good, but action and systems make growth happen,” he said.
Trainers showcased real-world examples: traders using handwritten ledgers expanded reach via WhatsApp Business, online marketplaces, and spreadsheets; others grew by accepting mobile transfers over cash and digital orders to tap distant markets.
Manual operations limit sales visibility and customer insights, experts noted, while digital tools deliver real-time data, cut errors, and unlock broader markets.
Participants must adopt at least one digital tool post-onboarding, with organisers promising follow-up workshops and mentorship. The four-week programme aims to bolster SME growth and Nigeria’s economic goals.
Spacecoin, US-based, has announced the signing of recent agreements with local authorities and operators to launch satellite connectivity pilot projects in Africa.
The initiatives, focused on Kenya and Nigeria, aim to serve areas where terrestrial networks remain limited or unavailable.
n Kenya, Spacecoin has obtained a transmission license from the Communications Authority, allowing it to test satellite-based solutions for connectivity and Internet of Things (IoT) monitoring, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas with limited internet access.
According to the Kenyan regulator, internet penetration remains below 50% of the population, despite mobile penetration exceeding 130%.
In parallel, the company is continuing operations in Nigeria under an existing license issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
This authorization supports initiatives aimed at delivering affordable broadband connectivity to isolated and underserved communities.
Spacecoin’s approach is based on a decentralized satellite network using nanosatellites in low Earth orbit (LEO).
Combined with blockchain-based protocols, this architecture is intended to offer more flexible and cost-effective connectivity services than traditional networks, while also enabling the integration of IoT solutions for a range of uses, from smart agriculture to infrastructure monitoring.
These projects are part of a broader strategy to help narrow Africa’s digital divide, where a significant share of the population still lacks access to reliable internet services.
Satellite technology is increasingly viewed as a complement to terrestrial infrastructure, particularly in hard-to-reach areas where deployment costs and geographic constraints remain high.
Beyond Africa, Spacecoin is also running pilot projects in Asia, working with local partners to test the viability of its model across different regulatory and geographic environments.
According to the company’s management, growing interest from regulators reflects a shift toward solutions capable of reaching populations that have long been excluded from internet access.
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