The Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has appointed Princess Oforitsenere Emiko as Interim Chairman of the governing board of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), a move that anchors the Commission’s plan to reposition the Institute for the next era of Nigeria’s communications sector and digital economy.
She will be joined on the board by the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Engr. Abraham Oshadami, and Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Ms. Rimini Makama, who join as interim Board members. The interim leadership will work alongside the President/CEO, Mr. David Daser, and the remaining board members whose tenures are unexpired, to drive the Institute’s transformation.
Established by the NCC in May 2004, DBI was created as a specialized centre for training in telecommunications and information technology. In the two decades since, the sector it serves has grown from telecommunications into a broad, fast-moving digital economy, one where technology now advances quickly enough to demand continuous specialized training, and where communications infrastructure has become a matter of national sovereignty and oversight. Securing and advancing the future of communications and the digital economy is now a clear national and economic priority.
That future also rests on Nigeria’s young population. With 70% of Nigerians under the age of 30, the DBI transformation is designed to empower young people, equip them with advanced technical skills, and close the capability gap that currently slows the pace of technology adoption across the communications sector and the wider digital economy.
The repositioned Institute will concentrate on five areas, which are, Education and Training; Research and Development; Innovation; Economic Impact and Growth; and Emerging Policy and Regulation. The strategy has been shaped through engagements beyond the NCC and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, including consultations with the Federal Ministry of Education and TETFund, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI).
