DBI is funded by the Nigerian Communications Commission
(NCC).
Declaring the workshop open in Okada, the Vice-Chancellor of
the university, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, said the training was strategic to the
institution’s plan to consolidate on its Smart campus regime.
The regime, he said, was gaining recognition, particularly
with the recent Best Information Technology (IT) Academy and the Most
Supportive Vice-Chancellor awards of the Huawei Academy, which were won by the
school.
“Digital Bridge Institute’s commitment to transforming the
digital space in the country’s tertiary institutions of which IUO is a
beneficiary, is praiseworthy indeed.
“It is emblematic of the future direction of the higher
education landscape where Artificial Intelligence, robotics, virtual reality
and other innovations are gaining preeminence,” said the vice-chancellor.
Ezemonye expressed the preparedness of the school to run
joint educational programmes with the institute in the areas of co-design,
co-development and co-delivery of specialised IT-related courses both at
undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
He applauded the institute, as well as the Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC), which funded the programme, for their
generosity and unflinching support.
Prof. Mohamed Jiya, the President/Chief Executive Officer of
the institute, said the adaptive training was introduced and funded by the NCC
to bridge the digital gap between graduates of various tertiary institutions
and requirements by the employing industry, particularly in the ICT space.
Jiya, represented by Mr Osaretin Enagbare, said:
“Oftentimes, we realise that there is this digital gap between fresh graduates
from institutions and what is required by the industry. So NCC saw the need to
bridge this gap and as such, DBI was saddled with the responsibility.
“As a result of this, the institute came up with an adaptive
programme where participants would be equipped with practical skills in ICT and
emerging trends in the ICT space.
“Of course, you will agree with me that ICT right now is
fast growing and developing. Therefore, there is this need to keep us on our
toes. There is this need to be found up to speed by these emerging technologies
in the ICT space.
“That is why DBI comes in by equipping both teaching and non-teaching
staff of various institutions on this ICT trend. It is done in such a way that
knowledge can be cascaded from academic staff to the students.”
According to him, “the training is more like killing two
birds with a stone; it is training the trainers. We train the staff and they in
return train the students.”
“At the end of the day, they come out as graduates
well-grounded in their various ICT spaces,” he explained.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that modules for
the training cover Digital Skills, Cybersecurity and Emerging Technology
(DSCET) as well as statistical analysis using the SPSS and Power BI.