Stakeholders in Nigeria’s data management space have stressed the need for the government, as well as businesses to deliberately harness available data for national development.

Ayodele Bakare, the head of the National Development Division at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), speaking at the data governance conference in Abuja, said that as a country it was time for Nigeria to leverage data as a means to social and economic prosperity.

He explained that to be able to maximise the value of data, organisations must possess a data governance structure, which is a subset of data management. This, he said includes knowing the right methodology to gather data, clean it up, storing, processing, data protection, transmission and most importantly to be able to derive knowledge and intelligence from it.

“If Nigerians can effectively manage its data, then definitely, more investment will come to Nigeria. And again, if you’re looking at investment, you need to have the right strategy to manage your data to ensure that you can be innovative and also be creative.

“So once you have that in place, then definitely you will have more investment pouring into the country. Good decisions must be data driven, must be sufficient and must be accurate, with the right technology to mine knowledge from such data,” he said.

The conference themed: ‘Harnessing Data Governance for National and Regional Development’ was organised by the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) in collaboration with the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), the African University of Science and Technology (AUST) and Baze University.

In his remarks, Adedeji Adeniran, the Director of Research, at CSEA, noted that as a continent, Africa has missed out on past industrial revolutions, adding that how available data is processed including Artificial Intelligence (AI), will shape the next industrial revolution.

He said, “And if Africa will benefit from this industrialisation, one very critical thing is we need to be part of that global value chain. We can’t just be consumers, we need to be part of the producers.

“And for you to be a part of the producers group, you actually need to be creating something. And that really sets out an enabling environment for data and data innovations. That’s why data governance is critical.”

For Fatima Sani, Legal Officer, Strategy, Partnerships and Communications Department of the NDPC, Nigeria in 2023 enacted the Data Protection Act to ensure that data are protected, adding that one key aspect of data governance is data security and data privacy.

The NDPC, according to her had recently launched a strategic roadmap and action plan that identified five key pillars ranging from governance, human capacity development, collaboration and cooperation, funding and sustainability, ecosystem and technology.

“We have licensed data protection compliance organisations. We have just launched a national certification process. Notably, we are a member of the Global Privacy Assembly, which is made up of 130 data protection authorities worldwide. We are also a member of the Network of African Data Protection Authorities in Africa,” she added.

By Amar Subramanya, VP of Engineering, Gemini

Every day, we learn about how people are using Gemini to be more productive, creative and curious. And with today’s update, Gemini is getting better at helping you accomplish those tasks in ways that work best for you.

You can now access 1.5 Flash in the unpaid version of Gemini for faster and more helpful responses. Plus, we’re introducing a new feature to further address hallucinations, and expanding our Gemini for Teens experience and mobile app to more places.

Faster, smarter responses with 1.5 Flash

We’ve heard that one of the main reasons people enjoy using Gemini is because it saves time. Whether you’re using Gemini to write a compelling email or debug tricky code, it’s important to get fast, high-quality responses.

Today we’re upgrading our free-tier experience to Gemini 1.5 Flash for quicker and more helpful responses. With Gemini 1.5 Flash, you’ll notice across-the-board improvements in quality and latency, with especially noticeable improvements in reasoning and image understanding. And just like we greatly expanded the context window of Gemini Advanced, we’re quadrupling Gemini’s to 32K tokens. That means you can have longer back-and-forth conversations and ask Gemini more complex questions — all free of charge.

To get the most out of the larger context window, we’ll soon add the ability to upload files via Google Drive or directly from your device, which has been available in Gemini Advanced. That means you’ll be able to do things like upload your economics study guide and ask Gemini to create practice questions. Gemini will also soon be able to analyze data files for you, allowing you to uncover insights and visualize them through charts and graphics.

Gemini 1.5 Flash is now available to all Gemini users on both web and mobile, in 40 languages and over 230 countries and territories.

Related content within Gemini’s responses

We’ve also heard that people enjoy exploring new topics with Gemini as their go-to research partner. So we’re now displaying links to related content for fact-seeking prompts in Gemini – continuing our work to reduce hallucinations and making it easier to explore websites that help you learn more.

Starting today for English language prompts in certain countries, you can access this additional information on topics directly within Gemini’s responses. Just click on the chip at the end of a paragraph to see websites where you can dive deeper on a certain topic. This isn’t limited to websites: If Gemini’s response references information found using the Gmail extension, you’ll also see inline links to relevant emails.

This also builds on our work to combat hallucinations. In addition to related content links, Gemini’s double-check feature verifies responses by using Google Search to highlight which statements are corroborated or contradicted on the web. For information that is contradicted, you can easily dive deeper to verify the information yourself.

Gemini features in more places

Earlier this year, we introduced the ability to chat with Gemini directly in Google Messages on select Android devices. Starting today, we’re gradually rolling out Gemini in Google Messages to the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland, with the ability to chat in newly added languages like French, Polish and Spanish. Click the “Start chat” button in Messages and select Gemini to start brainstorming ideas, plan trips and more — all without leaving the Google Messages app.

We’re also rolling out the Gemini mobile app to more countries, so more people around the world can get help from Gemini on the go.

Expanded access to Gemini for teens

In the coming week, we’ll expand Gemini access to teenagers globally, in over 40 languages. Teens who meet the minimum age requirement to manage their own Google Account will be able to access Gemini to do things like better understand school subjects, prepare for university or get help with creative projects.

We want to create opportunities for teens to benefit from all generative AI has to offer and prepare them for a future where AI will play an even more central role — all while prioritizing safety and meeting their developmental needs. To help them navigate Gemini confidently and safely, we’ve put additional policies and safeguards in place, introduced a teen-specific onboarding process, and included an AI literacy guide to help teens use AI responsibly. We’ve also partnered with child safety and development experts, including MediaSmarts (CA), Miudos Seguros na Net (PT), and Fad Juventud (ES), who continue to provide expertise on meeting the unique needs of teens and families.

How we responsibly design Gemini

Gemini’s development has always been guided by a commitment to responsibility and user safety. As it continues to evolve, we’re sharing more about how we design Gemini and intend for it to respond. You can now read about our approach to Gemini, plus more details about our policy guidelines to better understand how we’re navigating complex and sensitive topics, including responses to topics related to public interest issues, and political, religious or moral beliefs. These guidelines, grounded in our AI Principles, reflect our ongoing commitment to developing this technology responsibly and transparently.

Look out for more Gemini news coming at Made by Google. In the meantime, start chatting with Gemini today to try out these updates.

Cofinity Group, which has been in the data center market for over 15 years, has signed strategic channel partnership agreements with Africa’s largest data centre operators.

Ayotunde Coker, chairman of the Africa Data Centres Association,

According to the firm, these include PAIX Data Centres, Rack Centre, Raxio, and Digital Realty, which includes Digital Realty’s African subsidiaries iColo, Teraco, and Digital Realty Nigeria.

Cofinity said these data centre providers operate in 11 countries and account for more than 75% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP.

According to the company, the rate of technological adoption and digitisation in Africa is growing, necessitating the need for highly secure data centre facilities with reliable levels of power availability, redundancy, and connectivity.

“We have had the privilege of working with the leading data center providers in Africa and we are confident that enterprises will benefit from our deep knowledge and streamlined commercial processes,” said Ray Lawless, president of Cofinity Group Inc.

Ayotunde Coker, chairman of the Africa Data Centres Association, commented: “Cofinity Group’s initiative is further evidence of the surging demand in Africa for the services of data center companies.

“We welcome Cofinity Group Inc’s role in bringing together key sectors, such as Fintech, with data center providers in Africa, continuing the transformation of Africa’s digital infrastructure and accelerating economic growth.”

In a statement, Cofinity pointed out that its extensive experience in various markets, as well as close relationships with these data centre operators, provides an opportunity to assist enterprises looking to migrate to a quality colocation data centre solution in Africa.