In his opening speech the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta stated that it was in recognition of the role of the Academia in the development of the telecoms sector that the Commission instituted the Research Proposals Grant project.
Under this project, tertiary institutions submit detailed and well thought out Research Proposals to the Commission on innovative use of telecommunications to provide solutions to solving national problems. These prototypes which can be so varied include the development of a commercially viable prototype of their research that can have direct impact on the society.
Prof. Danbatta, noted that the academia is one very important Stakeholder to the industry whose relevance to the growth, sustainability and continuity of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized.
In 2016, 56 proposals from the Academia were received by the Commission; however, only three (3) proposals were selected by the Inter-Agency Committee, comprising the Academia and Industry members, to be awarded Grants. In the year 2017, of the ninety six (96) proposals received, after stringent evaluations, only six (6) proposals were found eligible. This shows how serious and stringent the evaluation processes are taken to determine which proposals would yield the desired outcomes.
The NCC’s Director of Research and Development, Mrs. Abigail Sholanke, congratulated the winners for their contributions to improving the lives of Nigerians through proposals for innovative technology in ICT and, also thanked Prof. Umar Danbatta for his commitment to boost indigenous researches/development in the telecoms sector through collaboration with the academia.