E-Business
Stakeholders Seek Digitization as National Strategy

Stakeholders from diverse backgrounds have unanimously called for digitalisation to form part of our national strategy in Nigeria.
They made this call at the Business Journal’ 2nd Annual Lecture and Awards held at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.
The event had as its theme”Digital Nigeria: The Path To Sustainable Economic Growth.”
Tope Smart, group managing director, NEM Insurance Plc and chairman, Nigerian Insurers Association said that the country needs a very robust Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Infrastructure to be able to move forward.
He noted that the unfortunate thing was that the country was yet to attain that level of digital advancement.
According to him,“Because digitalisation encompasses transparency Nigeria needs this level of advancement to solve the issue of corruption.
“The Federal Government should ensure that digitalisation forms part of our national discuss so that we can use it to boost our economy.
“Digitalisation is something that citizens and the government of any country should embrace to solve issues of employment among others”.
Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission stated that digitization has emerged as a key driver and enabler of socio-economic benefits for any countries.
He noted that we must define and understand certain concepts that will transit us to Digital nation.
Prof Danbatta explained that digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; that is the process of moving to a digital business.
He said that digitalization will accelerate economic growth and facilitates job creation in the country.
On what the commission is doing to ensure digitalization and economic diversification of the Nigerian economy, he stated that they are committed to the implementation of the National Broadband Plan and so many other Initiatives.
Danbatta said, “The Nigerian Communications Commission will continue to promote and facilitate, through appropriate regulatory interventions, the expansion of pervasive broadband infrastructure that will stimulate the provision of e-products and e-services across Nigeria.
“The NCC will encourage the digitalization of information to be transformed into business and economic activities that drive national growth and development.
“The economic diversification of the Nigerian economy will give impetus for increase mobilization of all resources and increase revenues accruable to government.
“This will cause an exponential increase in productive activities in industry, manufacturing, infrastructure development, health, and agriculture to stimulate growth and development of the Nigerian economy.
“The NCC shall continue to provide the conducive regulatory environment for increased private sector investment and expansion of economic activities.
“The interventions of the NCC play a vital role in supporting the evolution of digital processes and appreciation in various sectors of the economy.
“From Setting up Public Access Points and ICT Training Centres, the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP), the Advanced Digital Awareness programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADAPTI), the School Knowledge Centre (SKC), all of which have benefitted over 500 schools across the country, the educational sector in Nigeria has definitely felt the digital wand of the NCC.
“The NCC continues to promote and facilitate universal access to ICT to ensure implementation of e-taxation, ecommerce and e-government financial sector areas, which were identified as the economic enhancement needed for sustainability of the Nigerian economy.
“Improving user (traveler) experience such as online ticketing, boarding, and check in processes; and Vehicle tracking and navigations through mobile and Internet services, are also some key examples of how Telecommunications is enhancing Nigeria’s digital profile.
The deployment of Optic Fibre transmission network has been adopted in the “Open Access Model” to bridge the current digital gap and deliver fast and reliable broadband services to households and businesses and the success of this model is evident in the tremendous growth witnessed in the provision of broadband services by all major players in the industry through one technology or the other.
“Presently, Nigeria has achieved 33.72% Broadband penetration, thus over 64 million Nigerians are presently connected to broadband internet services. This is an encouraging leap from the 8.5% penetration in 2015″.
Mr Prince Cookey, publisher, Business Journal, said that the event was a rare opportunity for stakeholders to critically evaluate the opportunities and challenges of digital disruption on the various segments of the Nigerian economy.
Cookey said that the main focus was to offer a roadmap on how Nigeria could reap bountifully from the digital transformation era to achieve sustainable economic growth.
The Business journal Annual Lecture Series is a platform to examine and discuss emerging issues in the Nigerian economy and generate workable solutions going forward.
It brings stakeholders across sectors together to review the state-of-affairs in the economy through robust conversation.
E-Business
Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO has expressed concerns about the extreme risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO
He warned that nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Russia could adopt AI technologies to develop weapons capable of causing significant harm, including biological weapons.
Schmidt urged governments to oversee private tech companies, emphasising, “The real fears I have are not the ones most people discuss about AI, I talk about extreme risk.”
“I’m always worried about an ‘Osama Bin Laden’ scenario, where truly evil individuals take control of some aspect of modern life to harm innocent people,” he added.
With private companies driving AI advancements, he stressed the need for careful government monitoring and regulation. “It’s really important that governments understand what we’re doing and keep their eye on us,” he said.
His remarks followed a two-day AI summit in Paris, where the UK and the U.S. declined to sign a communiqué outlining the future direction of AI. The declaration on “inclusive and sustainable artificial intelligence for people and the planet” was endorsed by 57 countries, including India, China, the Vatican, the EU, and the African Union Commission.
The UK justified its decision, stating that the agreement lacked “practical clarity” on global AI governance and national security concerns.
Schmidt supports U.S. export controls restricting the sale of advanced AI microchips to certain countries, aiming to slow adversaries’ progress in AI research.
He also highlights the importance of international collaboration on AI safety, suggesting that cooperation with nations like China is essential to addressing global AI challenges.
E-Business
OpenAI CEO Rejects $97.4Bn Takeover Bid from Elon Musk

Sam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI, has firmly declared the company “not for sale” following a $97.4bn (£78.4bn) takeover bid from a consortium led by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk
Speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris, Altman emphasised OpenAI’s mission to develop AGI (artificial general intelligence) for the benefit of humanity.
Marc Toberoff, attorney for Elon Musk, confirmed the bid submission on Monday.
In response, Altman humorously offered to buy Twitter for $9.74 billion on Musk’s platform.
Unlike many tech giants, OpenAI is not publicly traded but operates through a complex partnership between non-profit and for-profit entities.
Musk aims to return OpenAI to its non-profit roots, despite owning a rival firm, xAI.
Christie Pitts, a tech investor, expressed scepticism about Musk’s intentions, noting his competitive interests.
Altman echoed this sentiment, suggesting Musk’s move disregards OpenAI’s mission.
Altman, who holds no stock in OpenAI, advocates transforming the organisation into a fully for-profit company to raise more funds for AI research.
Although the board has the final say, the $97.4bn offer falls short of OpenAI’s previous $157bn valuation and rumoured $300bn in future funding talks.
Toberoff stated the consortium might increase their bid. Meanwhile, OpenAI is collaborating with Oracle, a Japanese investment firm, and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund on “The Stargate Project,” a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative announced by President Donald Trump.
E-Business
Adobe Launches AI Video Tool to Compete with OpenAI

Adobe yesterday released the first public version of an artificial intelligence tool that can generate video clips and revealed how much it will charge, but said it will not set pricing for major users such as studios until later this year.
The Firefly Video Model, as Adobe is calling the service, will compete against Sora, a model developed by ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and startup Runway, both of which currently offer video-generation services. Facebook owner Meta Platforms has also developed a video-generation AI model but has not given a timeline for when it will be released.
Adobe’s model differs from its rivals because it is geared toward generating clips that will fit into how film and television studios use Premiere Pro, its flagship video editing software.
To that end, many of the features that Adobe is emphasizing revolve around feeding existing shots into the video model and asking it to generate clips that fix or expand on shots that were taken on a real production set but that did not come out quite right.
Adobe said the service will generate five-second clips at 1080p resolution. While that is shorter than the clips of up to 20 seconds generated by OpenAI’s service, Adobe executives said the majority of individual clips in most productions are only three seconds.
Adobe said a user can generate 20 clips per month for $9.99 and 70 clips for $29.99. That compares with 50 videos for $20 per month with OpenAI’s plan at lower resolution and a $200 OpenAI plan that can handle longer, higher resolution videos.
Adobe is also working on a “Premium” pricing plan for studios and other high-volume video users and will release those pricing details later this year. Alexandru Costin, Adobe’s vice president of generative AI, said the company is working to generate 4K video and will remain focused on quality rather than longer clips.
“We actually think that great motion, great structure, great definition scheme, making the actual clip look like it was film, is more important than making a longer clip that’s unusable,” Costin told Reuters.
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