LAGOS – Some Information Technology (IT) operators on Wednesday said that digital technology had impacted positively on the banking industry and e-commerce in the country.
However, they observed that it had yet to impact on the larger business people who were farmers and traders in the market.
They also told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that government could still do more to aid internet penetration.
The President, Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Mr Bayo Banjo, said that the banking industry and the e-commerce sphere were the most impressive users of internet facility in Nigeria.
Banjo noted that in spite of the impact on banking and big commercial concerns, it had yet to impact on the larger business people, mostly farmers and traders in the markets.
“The larger real business people, the farmers and traders in the markets have not felt the impact of digital technology.
“Of what use is the internet to a market woman up country?’’
He said that because some people who could be categorised as the affluent class had access to digital technology, there was a generalisation that majority of the populace had access to it.
The NIG president said that with those in the affluent class, the internet usage was also restricted to the social media platforms.
He said the country had not started using its cloud space (bandwidth) because there was inadequate facility to handle large data.
“What is limiting our scope is the fact that people do not have enough bandwidth which can deliver large volume of data,’’ he told NAN.
Banjo lamented the lack of control over the veracity of what people get on the internet, saying this was a negative aspect of digital technology.
“There are many things that are uploaded on the internet and thus, people cannot decipher truth from falsehood,’’ he said.
Mr Rogba Adeoye, President, Information Technology System and Security Professional (ITSSP), said that digitisation had revolutionised the way business was done in the country.
“Virtually every aspect of business in the country depends on digital technology, be it banking, human resources and even the press.
“That you are also talking with me now is because of the availability of the digital platform,’’ Adeoye said.
He said that every day, technology changed and people must continue to embrace the change for the nation’s technology advancement to be sustained.
“For us to sustain it, we have to embrace technology as it emerges,’’ he said.
For Mr Eke Ubiji, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (NASME), the impact of digitisation on his members should be lauded.
Ubiji said that since the volume of internet penetration among the elites had increased, it was only expected that more people would use the internet to promote their businesses.
“A good number of businesses have taken advantage of the internet and I must say this has increased their turnover.
“I dare say that a small business owner today must be computer literate and up-to- date, if not, he or she will be left behind.
“Being technology-savvy is the same as being attentive to government’s plans and policies to see how it affects your business and not just complaining that the government is not doing anything,’’ he said. (NAN)