The Governing Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission NCC, has appointed Princess Oforitsenere Emiko as interim chairman of the governing board of the Digital Bridge Institute DBI, which is in tandem with the Commission’s broad objective of repositioning the Institute for the emerging era of the country’s communications and digital economy sector.

Established by the NCC in May 2004, DBI was created as a specialised centre for training in telecommunications and information technology.

According to a statement by the NCC’s Head, Public Affairs, Nnenna Ukoha, the new interim chairman will be joined on the board by the duo of the Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Engr. Abraham Oshadami, and Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama.

The statement adds that the interim leadership will work alongside the President/CEO, of the Institute, Mr. David Daser, and the remaining board members whose tenures are unexpired, to drive the Institute’s transformation.

According to Ukoha, the Institute had in the two decades of its existence, helped the telecommunications sector to grow into a broad, fast-moving digital economy, one where technology now advances quickly enough to demand continuous specialised training, and where communications infrastructure has become a matter of national sovereignty and oversight.

She added that securing and advancing the future of communications and the digital economy has now become a clear national and economic priority.

“That future also rests on Nigeria’s young population. With 70 per cent of Nigerians under the age of 30, the DBI transformation is designed to empower young people, equip them with advanced technical skills, and close the capability gap that currently slows the pace of technology adoption across the communications sector and the wider digital economy.

The repositioned Institute will concentrate on five areas: Education and Training, Research and Development, Innovation, Economic Impact and Growth, and Emerging Policy and Regulation.

The strategy has been shaped through engagements beyond the NCC and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, including consultations with the Federal Ministry of Education and TETFund, the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure NASENI”, the statement read in part.