By Khasoogi D.Khasoogi
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Ibrahim Pantami, on Friday commissioned Nigeria’s first National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Centre (NCAIR) in Abuja.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony which attracted array of Ministers, dignitaries from both the public and private sectors, he said the centre is central to Nigeria’s National digital economy policy for a digital Nigeria.
NCAIR , the minister said will serve as a leading hub of innovation, research and development, knowledge transfer and training in the area of AI and Robotics.
Emerging technologies, he said change from time to time since they are technologies that ‘emerge’ or ‘evolve’. However, the following are generally considered to be emerging technologies at the moment: Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Robotics, Cybersecurity, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics and Cloud Computing.
According to him, artificial Intelligence is the refinery of the digital economy while robotics is very useful in supporting companies as they carry out repetitive tasks.
These are two very important emerging technologies that will shape the face of future technologies and we have decided to be proactive to enable us play a key role in how these technologies evolve, Pantami, added.
He said: “In addition other pillars of the National Digital Economy Policy will support the activities of this Centre, explaining that as part of pillar 1 of the NDEP, we are creating the regulatory environment required for the success of the Centre.
“These include related policies and regulatory instruments like the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), National Cloud Computing Policy, the Nigerian National Broadband Plan and the National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, amongst others.
“The Solid Infrastructure (Pillar #3) will enable broadband connectivity and this will aid the deployment of solutions developed in this Centre. The Digital Services Development and Promotion (Pillar #5) and the Indigenous Content Development and Adoption (Pillar #8) also reflect our vision for this Centre.”
According to him the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4R) fueled by Big Data, propelled by robust computing capacity, advanced software and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is ushering new ways of living, well-being, learning, travelling and working. Its innovative use-cases are quickly changing lives for the better and creating new types of jobs.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), he said, AI will have a huge impact on the following industries: Healthcare, Automotive, Financial Services, Retail and Consumer, Technology, Communications and Entertainment, Manufacturing, Energy, Transport and Logistics, stressing that all these will translate into a significant global economic impact.
Pantami, underscored that Nigeria must not be left out, hence, the call for immediate action.
“It is predicted that by the year 2025, AI will be a $190 billion business. 83% of companies are also reported to state that AI is their strategic priority for the future. 1,543 AI startups raised $10billion in funding in 2017. AI has a significant impact in all sectors and has played a very important role in the fight against COVID-19.
“There are 12 million robotic units worldwide in 2020 and this is expected to increase by 12% by 2022. The narrative about robotics tends to scare people into thinking that it will lead to loss of jobs. However, recent reports show that Robotics has already led to the employment of about 150,000 people globally in engineering and assembly jobs.” He said.
This Centre will also serve the following purpose: Create a vision for AI in the Country, Identify AI-driven use-cases, Support Data stewardship, Develop an AI ecosystem, Provide access to specialized technical skills for AI and Robotics, cultivate a network of influential supporters and champions across the country and Support the spread of early success stories with prioritized use cases to build and appetite for more AI activity.
The Centre, he said is fully equipped with: Digital Innovation Lab, which will serve as a one-stop shop for digital innovation support, Makerspace and Fabrication Lab (Fab Lab) Infrastructure that will support Innovation-Driven Enterprise (IDEs) for potential entrepreneurs to convert their ideas into products and services.
The others include: Printed Circuit Board Facilities, 3D Printer, Co-working space for startups, and Training facilities, he said.
The Centre will house the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT-REAP) Office for now, which is set to translate research insights into practical frameworks, convening stakeholders focused on Innovation Driven Entrepreneurship (IDE) and educating regional leaders through team-based interaction to achieve economic and social progress, he added.
The Minister expressed optimism that the Centre will engage our youth, support in the diversification of the economy, create more jobs and inspire our digital entrepreneurs.
According to him, the Centre will be run in line with the general Policy of the Ministry which will be conveyed to the Centre through the DG of NITDA and I hereby direct the Centre to send me a monthly report through the Director-General of NITDA from now until 31st of December, 2021.
He commended the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Centre (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi and his team for making the Centre a reality.
In his remark, the NITDA CEO, said, the Centre is one of NITDA’s core mandate of facilitating the growth of Information Technology (IT) development in Nigeria, adding that the agency is focused on providing support for viable innovations with socio-economic impact as well as a level playing field for all Nigerians to thrive in.
He said: “As we enter the age of advanced technological breakthroughs such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Nigeria cannot be left out in harnessing the advantages of AI, Robotics and other emerging technologies. AI has the potential to add to economic growth but the impact may be gradual and take sometimes to manifest according to McKinsey Global Institute.
“Develop countries can add 20 to 25% net income to their GDP while developing countries like Nigeria can add 5 to 15%. Nigerian GDP is around 400B USD thus AI can add between 20B to 60B USD in 10 years. This centre is aimed at achieving such unprecedented boost to our economy.
“In a related development, World Economic Forum predicted that nearly 60 million jobs will be added to labour market thanks to AI and Robotics.
“May I add that, we will not relent until we achieve the aspiration of President Muhammadu Buhari by seizing the opportunities of AI and Robotics to create jobs for our teeming youth and invest for our future and those of our children.”
Abdullahi, explained that AI is the ability of machine to mimic human thinking and behavour, stressing that AI is frequently applied to the project of developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience.