In a bid to focus on leveraging technology to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), Nigeria’s most exciting sustainability and environment event, the Sustainability Table Discourse returns for the 3rd edition with a virtual slant on bridging the digital divide.
On Thursday, 26th November 2020, the event which will take place via virtual conferencing and live-streamed on digital channels, will converge policymakers, entrepreneurs, sustainable development experts, academia and private sector representatives to share perspectives, inform opinions and proffer solutions in developing a framework on how best to achieve a circular, green and digital economy.
The main priorities of this year’s edition are opportunities to harness the SDGs in scaling investments in telecommunication infrastructure and effective e-waste management in achieving a green economy, with the theme; Bridging the Digital Divide: Leveraging Technology and Optimal Broadband Penetration to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
With an unlocked revenue-generating potential of $12 trillion to the Nigerian economy for improved opportunities in healthcare (telemedicine, precision medicine), banking and finance (Fintech), education (machine learning), Internet of Things (IoT) whilst creating new jobs and improving human welfare, bridging the digital divide is imperative in birthing Nigeria’s self-sustainable future.
Speaking on the forthcoming event, the Convener – Sustainable Table Discourse and Principal Consultant, Avant-Garde Innovation and Technology Services Limited, Kayode Olaniyan, noted that the this event’s objective is to utilise the forum, the leading sustainability platform in Nigeria as a melting pot where learning and solution-driven dialogue meet.
“With the unprecedented coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and civil unrest this year, we saw the lack of internet connectivity posing an existential threat on how business is conducted and the disproportionate gap on young people’s learning within the urban poor and middle-class.
With a world increasingly becoming interconnected and migrating digitally, Nigeria urgently needs to collaborate, corporate and coordinate with the rest of the world in ensuring we utilise the blank slate the pandemic provided in leapfrogging our challenges”, he said.
According to him, “Africa’s role in a world of 7.8 billion people should not be skewed to high population concentration, but should be positioned as an investment destination for responsible global investments that ensure accessibly and quality digital infrastructure”.
This year’s conference will bring together over 1,000 attendees, 14 speakers and exhibitors from across the sustainability value chain.
Key panellists include, Yewande Sadiku of NIPC; Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, David Kahale – Board Director, World Bank, Peter Ashade, Group CEO of United Capital Plc and Akintunde Oyebode, Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development – Ekiti State.