E-Business
Key Takeaways from BETT MEA & Turkey Leadership Forum 2016
Education and policy leaders drawn from Middle East, Africa and Turkey, recently, met at the inaugural BETT Middle East Leadership Forum held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates with the sole aim of achieving best practice guidance for (education) successful system change.
The 2-day Forum was unique in many ways, networking opportunities and inspiration from the world of education, especially, following world class contents shared by Microsoft Worldwide Education (MWE), the principal partners to #BETT_MiddleEast.
The thinking revolves round adopting technology to help improve education and learning, create opportunity, and raise living standards for people around the world, particularly in Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
Meanwhile, the African-America Institute “State of Education in Africa Report 2015” supports United Nation’s statistics which shows: “The Africa region has experienced an impressive increase in the number of students enrolled in primary school. Between 1990 and 2012, the number of children enrolled in primary schools more than doubled, from 62 million to 149 million children.
Unfortunately and “despite tremendous gains in primary school enrollment, no African country has achieved universal primary education.
“For a country to achieve universal primary education, all children must have completed a full course of primary schooling.
“Globally, 58 million children of primary school age were out of school in 2012. Of that number, 38 million children were in Africa. About half of all out-of-school African children will never step foot in a school in their lifetime”.
Anthony Salcito, vice president, Education for Microsoft Corporation’s Worldwide Public Sector organization, reminded the delegates, “This is a time in history that is very critical to push hard and drive for innovation and change in schools”. So we need to challenge each other to push harder and faster for the changes needed in the education sector. – See more: http://www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng/e-guest/tech-ll-fuel-changes-in-mea-education-sector-salcito#sthash.eGe61uhR.dpuf.
On this premise, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek key takeways from the Forum, are essentially summarized in Microsoft Education Framework christened “Ten Critical Components of School Transformation” (www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/school-leaders).
This decision was informed by Salcito’s presentation, who unequivocally, urged leaders from these regions to embrace the ten components of transformation that fall into two categories, relying squarely on Leadership and policy. The rest point at enhancing 21st century pedagogy
Feeling more educated on digitalizing education contents and localizing same, Mohammed Mahmud, a member of the Nigerian Parliament, even said, “What we learnt here are eye opening and impactful; as we return home (Nigeria), I will put up a team to assess how we can localize some of the things we learnt here. Truly and as advised by one of the speakers, we may not be able to do everything same time, but we will be doing ourselves a disservice if we don’t act now.
Leadership & Policy:
1.Establishing A Vision
2.Microsoft drums it loud that before school systems can embark on change they need a clear vision. Why? Defining one is complex because it touches on the perception, attitudes and everyday work of multiple stakeholders; involves the reallocation of fiscal and cultural resources; and disturbs the status quo. Thus, thrust of this anchores on helping policy leaders with examples from successful systems, and best practice to develop a cycle that includes a vision, strategic planning, implementation, and reflections on progress.
2. Partnerships and Capacity Building for Change
Microsoft’s message is that a public-private education partnership has the potential to be a significant catalyst for systemic change. This was even put forward by AAI, among other things, “Completing primary education helps to lay the foundation for building a skilled and better-educated workforce in Africa.
3. Organizational Capacity, Strategic Planning and Quality Assurance
A successful change strategy requires professional development, feedback and support for teachers along with a well-researched monitoring and evaluation system.
Professor Kate Omenugha, commissioner for Education, Anambra State, Nigeria nods in agreement to the aforementioned thus, “Coming back to ICT and looking at the curriculum in Nigeria, you need to start ICT teaching and learning, from the primary school…So the first thing was to demystify the new teaching tool for them. The past administration keyed into the Microsoft Academy which Anambra State is one of the 42 places across the globe where the Academy is being used. What does that mean to us? We have access to training facilities and certification of our teachers”.
4. Inclusion, Accessibility and Sustainability
Microsoft points to a direction that a commitment to personalized learning includes providing technology solutions that empower all students. We dare to say that for Africa to achieve the goal of raising globally competitive students, there is urgent need to personalized system of learning”. As Salcito said, this approach helps to build innovation, confident level & critical thinking of a child, and pays off in way of skill sets to meet challenges in today’s workplace.
21st Century Pedagogy
5. Personalized Learning
Personalized learning has the potential to overcome socio-economic, time and space limitations and maximize educational opportunities Clear guidelines from UNESCO present a roadmap towards individualized education.
UNESCO highlighted that “‘one size fits all’ approach to acquiring knowledge in today’s educational institutions does not successfully meet the needs of individuals of a knowledge society…”
6. Teacher and Leader Capacity
The need for “Building teacher and leader capacity is vital to successful transformation”, cannot be over emphasized.
7. Curriculum and Assessment
Responsive and creative use of technology is a powerful way to improve curriculum and assessment outcomes for students. For instance, exploring the allure of computer gaming makes learning fun.
“Educational games may be able to help circumvent major problems plaguing classrooms by placing students in a frame of mind that is conducive to learning rather than worrying about how smart they look,” said Paul O’Keefe, an NYU postdoctoral fellow at the time of the study and now at Stanford University’s Department of Psychology. It is imperatives that curriculum in the Nigeria’s education system be re-assessed to create room for digitization of the necessary areas.
8. Developing A Learning Community
A community of practice can provide a structure for fostering growth and development amongst peers to enhance learning goals.
9. Physical Learning Environments
The Microsoft Education Framework also contains the fact that anytime, anywhere virtual learning spaces are the manifestation of the connections that are redefining the 21st century school-community dynamics.
Thus, from whole-of-school transformation to mobile and smart learning solutions, these technology-enabled environments cultivate innovative learning and bring together all stakeholders in the building of a single ‘mega-learning space’.
10. Designing Technology for Effective And Efficient Schools
Combining cloud solutions that manage infrastructure with services and learning allows schools to operate more effectively.
Microsoft promised that not only does the technology they have support the running of a school, it also maximizes the potential of all students.
Thus, by unlocking and understanding student data educators can solve critical teaching challenges, improving learning outcomes and graduation rates. Reference: microsoft.com/en-us/education/school-leaders/school-systems-planning/components.aspx
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Paga, a payments and financial services provider for Africa has processed transactions value to the tune of N14trillion in the last 15 years of its existence.
Tayo Oviosu, chief executive officer, Pagatech, said at a media interaction to mark the company’s 15 anniversary that 80 percent of the amount was done in the last five years.
“When we celebrated 10 years of our business that was five years ago, we have grown our transactions values by 7 times, across the three business arms of our operation which includes; consumer payments, platform as-a-services and super App for retailers.
“This has translated into job creation as we have created over 1,000 direct jobs in Ethiopia and in Nigeria and indirect jobs through our agent network to about 100,000 jobs, this is economic empowerment of Nigerians.
“Our desire is giving people financial freedom and making life possible for them and impacting on our community. We are really proud of our economic achievements and we are making sure that our customers get the best experience.
“We are super excited about what the future holds for our business. Our vision is a world where cash does not exist anymore. We ensure that our customers’ money is safe by complying with the highest global security standards.
“Our focus is on helping both consumers and sellers pay, get paid, and access financial services. We do this directly; and through our Platform-as-a-Service, which enables other third parties to leverage the deep infrastructure we have built for endless possibilities.
Oviosu, further explained the three business lines Paga has transformed into from a mobile money operator from inception to a financial services provider includes; Consumer payment: where anyone can open a Paga account from any type of phone, by download Paga App from Apple or android store or dial *242# from any type of phone device.
“With Paga app, you can fund the account, make payments and also have a physical Visa card or a virtual Visa card on the account. This gives you significant convenience over other bank accounts we have in the market today.
You can send money into that account from any bank account or walk into any bank branch to fund the account. You can as well go to any agent and fund or make transactions from the account,” he said.
He added that when he started the business 15 years ago, there was no infrastructure, “we had to build the required infrastructure to support the business. Two years ago, we opened our infrastructure to allow other technology companies to use it for their own business. We called this Platform as a Service. With Platform as a service we are serving 150 businesses who are using our infrastructure to execute their own businesses.
“The third arm of our business is what we called Doroki this a different brand which is super App for retail business. If you are a supermarket you use it to manage your inventory among others. This is the youngest arm of our business” he noted.
Dr John Asein, director-general, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), has said that the federal government is taking steps to finalise its National Intellectual Property (IP) Policy and Strategy for the country.
Asein disclosed this on Friday while commemorating the 2024 World Intellectual Property Day with the theme “IP and the SDGs: Building Our Common Future with Innovation and Creativity’’ in Abuja.
The that the Day is observed every April 26 to celebrate the importance of intellectual property (IP) rights to encourage innovation and creativity.
The director-general was represented by Mr Emeka Ogbonna, director of Legal.
NCC boss said the policy would serve as a blueprint for a more efficient modern and responsive legal and administrative framework for the country to leverage on its creative and innovative potential.
He said that the day underscored the power of innovation and creativity in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and shaping a sustainable and inclusive future for humanity.
According to him, the SDGs represent a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by the year 2030.
“IP rights play a pivotal role in fostering innovation, creativity, and technological advancements. They provide the framework that encourages men and women to develop new solutions that address global challenges.
“It is the lynchpin for incentivising the use of creative and innovative ideas to solve many of the challenges that confront humanity.
“This year’s World IP Day reminds us that intellectual property can be a powerful tool for social, economic, and environmental development.
“It encourages individuals, businesses, and governments to leverage IP rights to drive innovation, create jobs, and build resilient communities.
“By aligning our intellectual property policies and strategies with the objectives of the SDGs, we can accelerate their achievement,’’ NCC boss said.
He said in the spirit of the “Renewed Hope Agenda’’ of the present administration, government had also shown appreciable commitment to the creative industry as a major sector of the economy.
“As one of the agencies responsible for the wholesome development of the creative sector, the Nigerian Copyright Commission will continue to provide the needed institutional, legal and administrative support for the protection, promotion, regulation and enforcement of copyright.
“The commission will pay particular attention to using the copyright system to advance Goal 1 (No poverty); Goal 4 (Quality education); Goal 5 (Gender equality).
“And Goal 8 (Decent and economic growth); Goal 9 (Industry, innovation and infrastructure) and Goal 17 (Partnerships to achieve the goals).
“We are aware that the goals would have to be adapted to fit the peculiar needs of intellectual property which is an intangible asset.’ ’he added.
The director-general, who said that the commission focused on the 17 SDGs to address emerging challenges, called on authors, innovators, users, IP experts and other stakeholders to reflect on the vulnerability of the nation’s fragile knowledge and creative ecosystem.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Illmi Children’s Fund (ICF) have trained 100 schoolgirls in digital and Information and Communication Technology skills training.
Mrs. Maryam Augie-Abdulmumin, ICF Executive Director, confirmed this in a statement on Thursday in Lagos.
The graduation followed the training of the schoolgirls in ICF and NITDA’s DIGITGALS 2.0 programme, a collaborative initiative aimed to equip adolescent girls in Abuja with critical digital and ICT skills.
Augie-Abdukmumin said the DIGITGALS 2.0 centred around essential digital literacy, programming fundamentals, digital marketing and communication skills, and cybersecurity awareness.
She added that the girls were equipped with the confidence to compete and excel in a globalised digital economy. The graduation was in commemoration of the 2024 International Girls in ICT Day celebration on April 25.
DIGITGALS 2.0 is in its second phase and empowered 100 senior secondary school girls selected from five government schools in the Federal Capital Territory.
The girls aged between 15 and 18 years were equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to thrive in the digital world and address the growing demand for ICT skills in the 21st century.
Augie-Abdulmumin reiterated the importance of bridging the digital gap in the country starting with the girl-child.
“This graduation ceremony on International Day of Girls in ICT is a powerful symbol of our commitment to closing the digital gender gap.
This programme made possible through our partnership with NITDA, and signifies a crucial step towards bridging the digital gender gap.
It also fostering a future where women are active leaders in the tech industry. This is also an opportunity for these girls to take charge of their own future,”.
Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, the Director-General of NITDA, commended the collaborative efforts of ICF in making the DIGITGALS 2.0 a reality.
According to him, building a diverse and inclusive digital workforce is critical for Nigeria’s success.
“We are proud to collaborate with ICF on DIGITGALS 2.0 to empower these young women to become active participants in the tech industry. This programme showcases the importance of collaborative efforts in bridging the digital gender gap.
These girls have been equipped with essential digital skills, and ICF and NITDA are confident they will become active contributors to Nigeria’s thriving tech landscape,”.
ICF is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of children, from underprivileged backgrounds, through education, healthcare, technology and entrepreneurship initiatives.
NITDA is a public service institution established in 2007. It functions as the ICT policy implementing arm of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.
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