The Government of Cross River has partnered with tech giant Microsoft to train youths of the state on data management.
Speaking after a technical session with representatives of Microsoft in Calabar, Gov. Ben Ayade, said the partnership would define the roadmap for the digital transformation of the state.
Ayade who said the partnership was in an effort to make Calabar the first smart city, thanked Microsoft for the confidence reposed on the state, adding that the key objective of the partnership was to create opportunities for young people in the state in the field of Information Communication Technology (ICT).
According to the governor, through the Microsoft and Cross River partnership, his digital transformation objectives would be achieved for young Africans using the platform to market their talents and products.
“By aggregating and introducing an academy, young Cross Riverians, Nigerians and indeed Africans as a whole will be properly trained on ICT.
“The partnership will lead to generation of knowledge, content and wealth, thereby reducing poverty and improving the value of mankind which is the whole essence of human endeavor.
“We will provide a web hosting facility to support the deployment of ICT – for Microsoft to develop an ICT paradigm in the form of a data management academy to teach and educate young Cross Riverians on data management.
“As first step, the State will be sending a team of 10 young ICT Engineers to join them in Turkey as first set of trainees who will be trainers upon return to Nigeria.
“In the next few weeks, the state will have a pool of scientists deployed to conduct interviews with stakeholders and also do a verification and site assessment, to establish a location point,” he said
In his remarks, Mr. Osmen Ulukuz, Microsoft’s Security Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Region said the digital transformation that Cross River had began would train students and young Africans on data management using the proposed academy.
He said given the various indexes, the State stands out among other States of the federation adding that Microsoft was pleased to reach the continent using Cross River State.
Microsoft is popularly known for software products such as the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, the Microsoft Office suite, the Internet Explorer and Edge Web browsers.