SDGs: NACETEM To Co-host 5th G-STIC Conference In Dubai

…As DG Says Technology Can Tackle Insecurity

As part of the efforts to utilise technology in achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) will co-host the 2021 Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Community Conference (G-STIC).

This was just as it was revealed that technology can tackle insecurity and other challenges in Nigeria if measures are put in place to create an enabling environment.

The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, NACETEM, Engineer Professor Okechukwu Ukwuoma, revealed the above on Wednesday while fielding questions from journalists.

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NACETEM is an agency of the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation aimed at engendering sustainable development in Nigeria.

The programme with the theme: “Shaping a Post-pandemic World: Real-life examples of technological solutions for the SDGs” is a hybrid conference that will hold physically in Dubai.

According to the DG, “This 5th G-STIC conference in Dubai will be spread over two editions. One in October 2021 and the other in January 2022. The conference will be live-streamed on all our digital platforms, thereby ensuring a great interactive experience between speakers and participants.

“This World Expo edition will focus on knowledge and technologies that are crucial to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It will be an accelerator and testing ground for breakthrough technological solutions that the world needs to shape a post-pandemic world and create a better future for all.”

Noting that technology can solve security challenges, Prof. Ukwuoma said “We need energy to sustain technology to tackle insecurity. Not only that, there must be an enabling environment for it to thrive. Solar energy, a plant base, and optimal internet connectivity are some of the instruments that can help to tackle insecurity.”

He further explained that science and technology would only assist hugely in decimating insurgents if adequate energy is available.

Ukwuoma said the production of technological equipment that would be deployed in fighting insecurity could be produced by Nigerians if given the right motivation and resources.

He also stressed that lack of political will, motivation, enabling environment and inadequate energy, were part of the difficulties in the need to use science and technology to tackle insecurity in Nigeria.

“One of the problems we have is that energy generation, transmission and distribution level is very pathetic. Production of technological equipment, both computers and others, requires a lot of energy and if we don’t have the energy to produce them, we are merely discussing them. If we continue to discuss ideas without putting them into practical applications, we won’t achieve anything.

Speaking on the low interest of women in science and technology, the DG emphasised the need for women to believe in their abilities, adding that “it has become imperative for women to see technology as a non-difficult career path.”

He further said, “No one is suppressing women in the area of science and technology. But many of them think that science, technology and mathematics is difficult.

“In the past, people thought technology was hard and it involved the use of hard or sophisticated machines, big tractors. But technology is inside us, in how we think, see things, appreciate them, how we move and all.

“This is why we encourage people to come along. At NACETEM, we bridge the gap in knowledge insufficiency in the area of technology. We do not castigate women. NACETEM is involved in training people on the application of technology in business management and entrepreneurship among others.”