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Software
Nigeria - the Software Industry in Nigeria Software
is at the heart of the global knowledge economy. The increasing adoption
of ICT enabled tools and technologies further enhance the value of
software. Software presents Nigeria with an opportunity to take high up
position in the global ICT value chain. The value chain consists of the
creators, distributors, resellers and consumers. To make sense of the
ICT revolution, forward-thinking countries ensure that they carve out a
niche in the high value, creative portions of the value chain. Nigeria
is Africa’s busiest ICT market because of the trading, importing and
consumption in ICT. But these alone are not strengths in the new
economy. Software opportunities can unleash the potentials of the
Nigerian nation. With its large, youthful, educated and enterprising
populace, software provides Nigeria with a unique opportunity. The Software niche In
the knowledge economy you get ahead by exploiting identified niche
markets such as Software. With
the growth in e-business and the pervasive influence of the Internet
software/web development is a booming market. The IBM global financing
report in 2005 states that software and services form the largest and
fastest-growing part of the information technology market. The
market for software is far bigger than that of the hardware in Nigeria
and globally. In
recognition of the importance of software, Nigerian government in
conjunction with Nigerian software practitioners developed the Nigerian
Software Development Initiative (NSDI). NSDI website states, “The
Nigeria Software Development Initiative (NSDI) is a presidential
initiative on the development of the Nigerian software industry which is
born out of the realization that the nation has abundant intellectual
capital whose genius and creativity in software development could help
jump-start Nigeria’s participation in the booming global software
industry”. Software
is required for the effective use of ICT – in PCs, handhelds, mobile
phones, the Internet, GSM, wireless telephony, network devices, telecom
equipment, etc. Nigeria’s local software industry needs to grow and be
involved to make the required impact. In Nigeria, System
software – operating systems, network software, development tools - is
100% imported. Same story for packaged applications (word processing and
spreadsheets). This isn’t too unusual - in other countries, most
System software and packaged applications in use are those manufactured
by global industry leaders, e.g. Oracle, Microsoft, etc for reasons of
support, manufacturer’s Research & Development (R&D)
investment and compatibility. Growth comes from within The
most obvious opportunities for the local software industry therefore are
the specialized application development markets – producing software
for accounting, legal, banking, financial services, personnel, payroll,
information management, games, etc.
There are several local software providers doing well but as a
whole the software industry needs to move faster than it is doing at
present. To move Nigerian into its right place in the value chain, the
challenges faced by the local software industry must be addressed. A
large proportion of Nigeria’s software business is in the hands of
firms based outside Nigeria. Local developers are losing out to
ignorance and foreign software providers. Most Nigerian businesses,
especially the small businesses, don’t invest in specialized software,
for them the packaged / office applications are as far as it goes.
Awareness is low about the benefits of software. And for most of the
large corporate organizations that invest in niche software, foreign
software is regarded as the better option. The
strength of the ICT industry comes from the internals. How can software
be seen as a viable career option in the absence of thriving local
software businesses? A strong local software industry will in addition
save foreign exchange - money spent on foreign software goes to foreign
organizations, money spent on local software stays within the Nigerian
economy. It will provide career and business opportunities for the youth
locally and globally in - outsourcing, application and web development.
Nigeria can take a cue from India, a country that has benefited
tremendously from Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and software
outsourcing Making Software Nigeria a priority Because
of the opportunities offered by software
- Nigeria should aspire to become a global player in the creative high
value end of ICT – the software industry must be treated as national
priority. As
one of the NSDI objectives states, there is a need to “To accelerate
the process of creating an enabling environment for the sustainable
growth of the software industry”. With
software, The
interest and demand of the local market for software products and
services needs to be increased
- to stimulate the
market, to strengthen and support the software industry. Government
should work with, Software
providers in Nigeria, NSDI, the Nigeria
Computer Society (NCS) and the Institute of Software Practitioners of
Nigeria (ISPON) to create greater awareness of the benefits of
software. Local and global (software export) opportunities should be
highlighted. A Supportive Environment Tax
incentives should be provided for local software developers. And just
like the made-in-Nigeria PCs, government should patronize and give
preference to locally developed software. Furthermore, the development
of Software technology parks should be encouraged. Such parks would
provide developers with constant power supply, security, subsidized
office space, IT infrastructure, software education and other
incentives. Early software
education for children and up-to-date curricula are particularly
important. Opportunities and strategies in open source should also be explored in for possible cost benefits and local ICT capacity development. Localization of software makes software relevant – the use of local language content promotes digital inclusion for all. Software localization deepens inclusion when it includes the adaptation of software (translation, design, icons and graphics) to fit a local cultural context and environment. In a world that emphasizes knowledge and creativity, open source should be examined for the promotion of local capacity, legal software usage and development, creativity and localization.
For Software Nigeria - the future is here.
Jide Awe Jide Awe is the Publisher of Jidaw.com
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