By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed. - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

Fresh concern over data security, implementation of cyber-crime act at NCS 2015 forum

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

By the time the 12th international conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Computer Society, NCS, was drawing to a close recently in Akure, Ondo state, participants at the forum were worried saying that unless issues around data privacy and security laws, implementation of cybercrime act, infrastructure, among others were resolved, Nigeria’s quest for digital economy may be derailed.
Accordingly, the conference provided a forum for policy makers, public and private sector, IT practitioners and academia to keep up to date with technology trends and to discover opportunities for the private sector in the process of inclusive development and avenues for public-private partnerships towards realizing the IT objectives within the context of Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
With big data becoming corporate buzzword for organizations around the world,  there was also question of who owns the data in the cloud.
Although the policy implications of the new technology may appear endless but given the potential impact of cloud computing, these questions, according to the participants will not remain unanswered.  But the question, according to the participants is when and how.
However, with the volume of data being generated on a minute-by-minute basis, the participants at the forum were concerned how best companies can leverage on  the benefits of ‘big data’ for economic development..
Although IT experts at the forum have advised the Federal Government to leverage on big data to improve the state of the economy, there was also issue of the preparedness of the country to adopt the new technology which is becoming the toast of IT community.
While President Muhammadu Buhari had assured in his  inaugural speech that  the present administration would tackle issues around terrorism, financial crime and cybercrime and other challenges of the 21st century, majority of speakers at the NCS conference with the  theme, IT for inclusive development noted that critical information infrastructure (CII) must be protected  as an essential asset for national development and security.
To facilitate the uptake of Big Data Analytics in Nigeria the following challenges including : privacy and security laws, shortage of skilled personnel with data analytical skills, lack of a national strategy/initiative on big data, and data accessibility, according to NCS forum must be addressed.
Stressing the importance of data for development, the Governor of the State Dr. Olusegun Mimiko attributed backwardness of Nigeria to lack of basic socio-economic data .
He urged the NCS conference to find a way to harmonize a common vision to guide the development of ICT  in Nigeria in order to enhance an inclusive development for the nation.
For 21st century digital Nigeria, the immediate past President of NCS  Prof David Adewumi   said that in addition to implementing Cybercrime Act,  legislation should be enacted to foster the development of Information Technology and  IT enabled activities in the country.
Speaking during the plenary session two on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, former President of the Nigerian computer Society, Sir. Demola Aladekomo told the gathering that there was need to have secured data in the cloud.
Fight terrorism with IT
Unless IT, education, employment creation were given urgent attention in governance, the fight against terrorism and other acts of insecurity may be long-drawn, he said.
Speaking during the plenary session, Tope Aladenusi, cyber risk services leader, Deloitte Nigeria, in his presentation on “Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Enhancing Cybersecurity and Resilience” cautioned that Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) are those ICT infrastructure upon which core assets that are essential for the functioning of the society and economy is dependent.
According to him, the destruction of these assets has a catastrophic impact on national security, governance, economy and social well-being of a nation.
In enhancing cybersecurity and resiliency of CII, he said that there was need for the development and enforcement of a framework and standard for protection of CII, but added that education and awareness were needed for implementation.
Outlining key considerations, he said that government should properly define specific critical Information Infrastructure and work with affected private and public sector organizations, improve on the work done by previous administrations by implementing Cybercrime Act, Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy and continuous awareness and improvement by all stakeholders
Also speaking at the on data analytics, local content and entrepreneurship development, a researcher at the Saskatchewan University, Canada,Dr. Iyilade Johnson, predicted that in the ten years’ time, big data will change every aspect of the economy.
According to him, big data is one of the intelligent industry solutions that  allows government to make better decisions by taking action based on patterns revealed by analyzing large volumes of data, which is related and unrelated, structured and unstructured.
“Data is the new oil of the 21st century with potential to spur innovation and social development in many sectors” he said.
But in a communiqué issued and signed by the newly elected President of NCS, Prof. Sola Aderounmu read in part:
*That the Federal Government needs to urgently push for comprehensive broadband access all over the country.
*That the Federal Government as a matter of urgency should roll out, implement and monitor local content policy to encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to patronize indigenous software and hardware.
*That the passing of the Cybercrime bill into law is acknowledged and critical stakeholders should collaborate with NCS in pushing the details and implications of the Cybercrime Act into the public domain through awareness programs and sensitization campaigns.
*That Big Data Analytics is an emerging IT concept with potential to impact individual, businesses and Government in many ways including marketing, customer relationship management, and fraud detection.
*That Emerging technologies including Big Data Analytics are also key to innovation and socio-economic development in every sector and in all agencies of government.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/08/fresh-concern-over-data-security-implementation-of-cyber-crime-act-at-ncs-2015-forum/#sthash.8kgLTGdR.dpuf

Buhari begins total probe of Jonathan’s govt

ABUJA -A total probe of the administration run by immediate past president, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is underway as the National Economic Council, NEC, Ad-hoc Committee on the Management of Excess Crude Account Proceeds and Accruals into the Federation Account, headed by the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole, is to hire two international forensic audit firms to probe revenue that accrued into the Federation Account and how it was spent under former Dr Goodluck Jonathan as President.

Mr. Oshiomhole told journalists at the end of the first meeting of the committee in Abuja, yesterday that the auditors would cover the period January 1, 2010 to June 1, 2015.

It put paid to calls by the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party, PDP, that Buhari should extend his probe to the administrations of Jonathan's predecessors, Alh. Umaru Yar' Adua.and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

Already, some revenue generating agencies have been invited to brief the committee which will take detailed briefings from all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs of the Federal Government that deal directly with revenue.

The focus will be on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Central bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, among others.

Other members of the committee included Gov. Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe, and Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom.

He said that the committee did not want its actions to be bogged down by political interpretations and that the members were not professionals. Even if they were professionals, he said that their duties as governors would not allow them the time to do a thorough work.

His words, "We held our first primary session today here with some of the revenue generating agencies that are supposed to remit funds to the federation account. We had a successful session with Customs, NPA, NEITI, SEC, FIRS, and quite a number of others and next week we will also hear from CBN, Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

For the remaining ones, we agree we are going to meet on Thursday next week, NNPC, NPDC, DPR, NIMASA and other remaining agencies.

We have started the work, with the idea to hear them out, what they have been doing, with particular emphasis on revenue accruing from these organizations and whether or not these have been remitted to the Federation Account for judicious distribution.

His words: "We realised that this is a task and given our mandate, even if we were professional accountants because we are sitting governors, we would not have the time to do a forensic audit which this assignment entails.

"Therefore, we have agreed in line with our mandate to appoint two reputable international audit firms to carry out a thorough forensic audit, not only of NNPC, which is more of excess crude, but other monies that accrued to the Federation Accounts. We have other revenues like bonuses, royalties, taxes, VAT that flow into the Federation Account.

"We are taking a holistic review of the entire process, looking at all the agencies that make contribution of funds to the federation account.

We are convinced that by appointing audit firms, we will allow professionals to carry out this exercise, so that it will be free of any political colouration and also we will ensure the outcome of the investigation will.

"We have learned, we have listened and asked questions. I think we all have a clear picture of what is happening in those organizations before now. Some have information to supply and we have drawn attention to those areas, they are willing to oblige. We believe in the end, we will be able to not just establish what had happened over the period but much more important, going forward with the changes the President has promised the country.

"It is not going to be business as usual. He started on a clean slate and everybody knows the new rules of the game and in particular as the laws apply to the various institutions are implemented in full. So I think we started very well. We are very confident that we are going to come out with something that is going to be of immense benefits to the Nigerian people".

On the rationale for embarking on another audit report with regards to the alleged missing funds, he said "Some reports were produced by PWC but in that report the PWC expressed their frustration and pointed to the fact that they were not able to access all the information they needed and that what they were able to produce was to the extent of information that was made available to them."

He added: "Audit can only be credible as much as information that was made available to auditors. The good news now is that with President Buhari, all the books will be open, no agency has any protection. Any agency that refuses to open the books then is ready to go on confrontation with the authority.

"The forensic audit will act on the whole truth and nothing but the truth so that all stakeholders will have basis to formulate good policies and that Nigeria will never find itself in this circle where huge sums of money are allegedly diverted and unaccounted for. Audit has become a way of life for all public institutions."

On the duration of the audit exercise, Oshiomhole explained that the committee had looked at it professionally. “We are focusing on a five year circle. What we have agreed is that we are going to carry out an audit for five years from 1st January 2010 to 30th June 2015.

“If the audit report reveals that we need to go backward, then we can do that. But for the first instance, this is the period that we consider good.

“We can't impose a time frame on them but will engage them and by Thursday we will be able to make it public. We need to listen to them and agreed with them on how much time will be okay for them. We are all in a hurry to ensure that the right thing is done. The emphasis is not on time but doing thorough job.

“By next week we will meet with the big ones and we will then be able to tell you the audit firms that we have appointed. They are firms I am sure Nigerians will have confidence in.

"At the end of the audit we will hear them out and reconcile them with what the laws says and arrive at a position. Given the volume of work and complicated nature of issues, we agreed we need professionals to carry out the audit. It is only the professionals that can handle it. It is not good to compromise". 
By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief, & Emmanuel Elebeke