The foregoing represents the thoughts of General Manager, West Africa, Cisco, Olakunle Oloruntimehin.

Equally important, Cisco, a worldwide leader in IT and networking, is one of the global tech giants that will be represented in the centre, a development which Oloruntimehin remains confident will generate innumerable positive outcomes for the Nigerian economy. The Tech Experience Centre is set for launch on Thursday, October 1, 2020, the occasion of Nigeria’s 60th Independence Anniversary.

‘‘Nigeria can expect Cisco to leverage this centre as part of our ongoing efforts in this region and globally to accelerate an inclusive future for all. Cisco people, technology and related resources delivered at this centre can be expected to ensure the interventions that will predictably deliver social, commercial and economic outcomes for Nigeria and the West Africa region. Our focus on partnerships and collaboration will include the space for SMME support, building a community that can be leveraged to improve the wealth of Nigeria,’’ he said.

In addition, Oloruntimehin has expressed delight with the presence of Cisco among other globally renowned tech brands in the centre. Specifically, he referenced the multiplier effect the Tech Experience Centre will have in encouraging local IT participation and the chance to have Nigeria’s voice heard in the global technology race.

‘‘Cisco is particularly pleased to be collaborating with other stakeholders in the Tech Experience Centre project. The Tech Experience Centre provides the ideal platform for collaboration amongst global technology players in a melting pot of sorts. The outcome of this should provide for local IT and technology industry participation and the incentives required to leverage the visible talent and opportunity potential in Nigeria. Innovation is global and the centre provides the interventions for Nigeria’s contribution.

‘‘Also, the democratization of technology outcomes should rank high as one of the impacts that this centre will deliver and by extension the provision of access to the evolving global technology landscape. My belief remains that access to education and the Internet, including the inherent opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration and innovation are the two most important equalizers in life.’’

Further, the Cisco executive has urged visitors to the Tech Experience Centre to look forward to enriching innovations and partnerships; even as he lauded TD Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa’s foremost technology, lifestyle and solutions distributor for spearheading the ambitious project.

‘‘At the centre, we expect our partners, customers and participation from our social responsibility collaboration e.g. Cisco Network academy. We expect to use the centre as a part of the showcase for our technology solutions, while we remain deliberate about building a relevant community of SMME that can compete at the global stage. Our traditional and emerging partners would also be welcome to the centre to collaborate with Cisco and other stakeholders in key areas like Devnet/DevOps, software engineering etc.

‘‘We focus on partnerships and collaboration. We are a company that has a proven track record off the back of a successful global partner program over the years. This approach is consistent in the way we continue to partner with TD Africa, to provide market development and penetration where required in the region for Cisco technology.

TD Africa is showing palpable intent with the launch of this Tech Experience Centre and I will encourage them to stay bold and continue to push the boundaries for technology in the region,’’ he concluded.

The Tech Experience Centre is widely expected to bridge the gap to cutting-edge technology for millions of Nigerians. The centre, the first of its kind in Africa, located within the prestigious Yudala Heights on Idowu Martins Street, Victoria Island will be flagged off by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami, who is expected in Lagos for the official commissioning by 5pm.

The Tech Centre is widely expected to boost Nigeria’s relevance in the global technology race and shore up the country’s march to technology independence.

For the first time, Nigeria will play host to the latest global technologies including those not normally available in Africa, offering all classes of visitors a first-hand experience of new gadgets, solutions and infrastructure that would have previously required a visit abroad, thereby saving corporate organizations, government establishments and individuals money or scarce foreign exchange expended on these trips.

• to offer Delphix DataOps Platform

FPG Technologies & Solutions Limited (a member of FlexiP Group), your go-to partner for practical digital transformation (DX) consulting services and technologies became a reseller of Accuras  which  is a UAE based technology company specialised in building software solutions that large enterprises have to depend upon day to day, hour to hour.

 Being the only distributor and implementer of Delphix products in Turkey, Middle East and Africa; Accuras now extends its solutions and services delivery capability to Nigeria and West Africa with this new partnership with FPG Technologies.

 The two technology leaders will combine their expertise to deliver the transformational DataOps, Data Management, Data Protection and Data Governance capabilities to large enterprises, including Finance and telecommunications companies in Nigeria and West Africa region.  

Every company is a DATA COMPANY or is in the process of becoming one and Delphix gives data stakeholder teams self-service access to personal, production-quality, data environments that enable them to accelerate innovation and significantly reduce data compliance risks. This solution improves the speed of access to test and analytical data. This allows businesses to off-load production systems for analytical purposes and accelerates the software development lifecycle. 

Delphix accelerates innovation by rapidly delivering secure enterprise data anywhere and ensures that non-production data is as secure and compliant as production data. Over 40% of the worlds Fortune 100 companies use Delphix to drive innovation and digital success.

 According to Rex Mafiana, CEO of FPG Technologies: “This partnership further shows our commitment and strengthens our portfolio in our bid to help our customers in their digital transformation journey, from a company that may be maximizing their Data to one that surely does. Your organization’s ability to virtualize it’s data securely is a measure of your digital transformation maturity as it enables you to unleash innovation and truly weaponize your Data for efficiency and the bottom-line”.

 Accuras’ CEO Ercan Eray says: “We have been passionate about the transformational change delivered by Delphix solution since signing as a reseller in 2016. In 2018 we have extended our partnership as a distributor to Middle East and Africa region. We have brought the DataOps and Data Protection message to Turkey, Middle East and Africa.

“Today we are extremely excited that we will bring transformational data capabilities to our clients in Nigeria and West Africa by partnering with FPG technologies. We are very impressed by the success that FPG Technologies achieved in the region so far and we are totally sure that we have the right alignment with FPG Technologies to combine our expertise together in order to do what we do best.”

The European Commission (EC) told member states to swiftly make progress on preventing dependency on high risk vendors in 5G networks, starting with a thorough investigation into each operator’s supply chain.

In a report into the headway made by member states towards a set of measures related to 5G security outlined by the EC in January, it noted “progress is urgently needed to mitigate the risk of dependency on high risk suppliers” with a view to reduce exposure at the European Union level.

According o Mobile World Live, “Challenges have been identified in designing and imposing appropriate multi-vendor strategies for individual MNOs or at national level due to technical or operational difficulties,” citing interoperability issues in some markets and problems related to geography.

The EC also called on the 13 member states which were yet to introduce mandated foreign direct investment screening mechanisms to do so, with a focus on those related to the 5G value chain.

Though work was needed across those specific areas, it noted other elements of the EU 5G toolbox were progressing well at a national level. These include national authorities ensuring they able to regulate 5G security and the introduction of measures designed to restrict the involvement of vendors based on their risk profiles.

EC EVP for Europe Fit for the Digital Age and Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager (pictured) said: “The timely rollout of 5G networks is strategically important for all Member States as it can open new opportunities for businesses, transform our critical sectors and benefit European citizens. Our common priority and responsibility is to ensure that these networks are secure and, while this report shows we have undergone great strides, a lot of work remains ahead.”

The report comes less than two weeks after the UK banned operators from using Huawei equipment in 5G networks and as the US continues a campaign to encourage other nations to follow suit.