“Research is one of those areas Africans have not given sufficient attention, besides universities and research institutions,” said Dr Ebot Ebot Enaw, General Manager of the National Agency for Information and Communication Technology, ANTIC at the opening of the workshop. He explained that research through ICT fosters innovation which in turn improves the competitive advantage of any organization. He said one of the major challenges for researchers today is how to translate their findings into concrete products and services which help create employment and wealth.
While harping on the need for ICT for development in today’s world, the ANTIC GM said the challenge is also how to harness the transformational potentials of ICTs to contribute to sustainable growth and development of society. He lauded the recent signing into law by President Paul Biya of three bills on cyber security and crime, and electronic trade, expressing hope that the laws would boost the confidence of potential foreign investors and thus boost direct foreign investments. The workshop was to help disseminate research results in order to encourage the development of science and technology, explained the facilitator, Paul Cunningham of Regional Impact of Information Society Technologies in Africa, IST Africa. “We hope our researchers will be able to secure funding for their work through this network,” explained Dr Ndi Humphrey Ngala, representative of the Ministry of Higher Education at the workshop. He promised the information gathered at the workshop would be widely circulated among researchers to enable them benefit from vast networking opportunities offered by IST Africa.
