Nigeria launches device co-designed by Pantami

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Monday at the ongoing GITEX Technology Week in Dubai put Nigeria’s name in the world’s advanced technology register by launching a hardware designed by the Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and a director at NITDA, Dr Agu Collins Agu.

The device, which was designed and produced in two years, could teach pupils in primary school the art of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IOT), Dr Agu told Daily Trust in an interview in Dubai today.

‘’The hardware will embed problem solving capability through creative thinking and problem-based learning methods, especially at the early age. It will also accelerate local content development and indigenization of technology through human capital development in emerging technologies’’, he said.

Named UnityBoard, the device, according to the NITDA’s senior official, is a creative medium for advancing teaching and learning, designed specifically as hands-on learning tools to help today’s students build skills for the creative and digital economy through critical thinking.

‘’When students are free to invent and create, they begin to see technology as a means for solving real-world problems’’, he said.

He said by introducing IoT in early education via UnityBoard, it will change Nigeria’s education system massively.

‘’Technological revolution is currently ongoing in the country and it is just a matter of time that Nigeria’s economy will witness dramatic development and growth like those of advanced economies’’, Dr Agu said.