Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister overseeing Communications, Innovation, and the Digital Economy, has revealed plans for partnerships with Cisco, 21st-century Technologies such as Awarri, and DataDotOrg. These collaborations aim to improve technological advancements and enhance Nigeria’s digital economy. The partnership was unveiled during the ending dinner of Abuja’s four-day National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS) Workshop. During the workshop, participants concentrated on creating a strategy that specifically meets the requirements of Nigerians and localities. The theme “Developing the High-Level Strategy and Implementation Plan for a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy for Nigeria” centred around developing a comprehensive plan for a national artificial intelligence strategy.
Tijani emphasised the growing global fascination with AI and the rising financial support for the technology in Nigeria. He pointed out that Galaxy Backbone Limited has dedicated more than one Petabyte of storage to AI initiatives. A new Pilot Compute Programme is in progress, with 21st Century Technologies committing over 2 million dollars towards a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) investment. This will enable them to lay the foundation for explaining the importance of investing in computing power on a national scale.
Program to improve computing infrastructure and launch of AI collective.
The value contributed by each node is crucial in determining the strength of a network, a fact well understood by all. Promoting global connectivity does not only benefit Africa or Nigeria simply by joining the conversation and being involved. Their collaboration protects the global community and adds solid value to the network. The Minister discussed various collaborations and initiatives that the Ministry has supported to accelerate Nigeria’s advancement in artificial intelligence. His agenda featured the revival of the National Centre for Al and Robotics (NCAIR), the development of a multilingual large language model for Nigeria, a pilot program to enhance the country’s computing infrastructure, and the establishment of an AI collective.
Also, Tijani elaborated on how the NCAIR’s revamped capabilities were intended to enhance its effectiveness in fulfilling its purpose. The Centre was established to advance research and development in new technologies and implement them in sectors crucial to Nigeria’s national objectives. NCAIR is a cutting-edge digital innovation and research centre specialising in AI, robotics, drones, loT, and other new technologies. Its mission is to revolutionise the Nigerian digital economy. Cisco, a global technology company, assists in implementing capacity-building initiatives.
Galaxy Backbone partners with 21st Century Technologies on the initiative.
He expressed the goal of creating a highly resilient Nigerian language model by developing a multilingual platform. His plan involved utilising the assistance of participants in the 3 million Technical Talent (3MTT) program to gather top-notch Nigerian language data, thereby enhancing the creation of advanced AI models. Also, He clarified that the project was a collaboration between Awarri, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), and DataDotOrg. He detailed how Nigeria’s pilot program for computing infrastructure would speed up the progress of AI projects of great importance to the nation. Galaxy Backbone Limited announced a collaboration with 21st Century Technologies to work on advancing Nigeria’s national computer initiative.
This will be accessible to local researchers, start-ups, and government entities focused on important national Al projects. The new system will be housed in the Galaxy Backbone Data Centre and can be accessed via NCAIR. Tijani explained that the AI Collective aims to boost the nation’s wealth by promoting an inclusive Al Ecosystem through a collaborative community of practitioners. By leveraging Al’s capabilities, the collective plans to enhance economic growth, speed up innovative solutions and establish Nigeria as a prominent player in the global AI for good movement. The Minister commended those involved in bringing the workshop to fruition and stated the advantages of implementing advanced technology.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) is implemented to enhance users’ productivity, resulting in shared prosperity. Local and international organisations supported the workshop, such as Luminate, Microsoft, Google, Meta, the NITDA, and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR). Additional organisations in this category consist of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), UNESCO, which focuses on education and culture; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Galaxy Backbone Limited; and the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), which provides universal service support.
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NITDA: Website
