The Abia Technology and Innovation Network (ATIN) has urged Abia Government to adopt and domesticate the Nigerian Start-up Act to encourage technology development in the state.
ATIN is an association of active technology and innovation community, comprising technology hubs in the state.
The body said that the domestication of the Act would speedily grow the technology industry in the state.
Daniel Chinagozi, the Chief Executive Officer of IGHub, Aba, and Board Chairman, ATIN, disclosed this on the sideline of the maiden ATIN hangout in Aba on Wednesday night.
“We are committed to working with government in preparing a technology innovation policy, which would speedily grow innovation and creative systems in the state.
“We also want to have such policies made into a law.
“We, the ATIN members, worked with national technology organisations as a community to create the Nigerian Start-up Bill, which has become the Nigerian Start-up Act.
“We now want Abia Government to domesticate this Act and this we want to do with the support of the government and in support of Abia Government’s strides in technology,” he said.
Chinagozi further said that ATIN would like to work closely with the Abia Government and get its support through providing power and internet connectivity to all the innovation hubs in the state.
He also said that the body would want the state government to collaborate with the technology innovation hubs to train more people.
Chinagozi is also a board member of AFRILABS, a technology-based, innovation-focused organisation, empowering and building a community around innovation hubs across Africa.
He said that the group’s mission was to improve technology in Abia.
He said that ATIN would help the government to train 10,000 Abia youths in different technology skills, like frontend and backend web development, mobile app development, digital marketing, data science and others.
“We can work with the government in the next two to three years to train 10,000 youths and get them employed.
“With government’s support, Abia can become the skill capital of Africa under Gov. Alex Otti,” he said.
Speaking on the association’s progress, he said that a team from the state technology community would be representing Nigeria in San Francisco because of what it built in a girls’ technovation competition.
He further said that some ATIN members would be contesting for board membership positions at the national and continental levels of Integrate Corporate Services Ltd and Afrilab levels.
According to him, the contest will increase their exposure.
