By Progress Godfrey

The Federal Government has positioned Nigeria’s universities at the heart of its digital transformation drive, tasking academia to power innovation for the digital economy through specialised research clusters, aimed at generating homegrown solutions for growth and global competitiveness.

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday to officially launch the National Digital Economy Research Clusters, a flagship initiative under Project BRIDGE, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, said the initiative comprises six clusters and would focus on six thematic areas.

According to him, the areas are connectivity, access, and meaningful use; digital public infrastructure and digital government; digital skills, education, and human capital; digital economy, jobs, and livelihoods; trust, safety, consumer protection, and online harms, as well as artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies.

Vanguard reports that the minister had earlier announced a funding commitment of N12 billion over the next three years to support these 6 clusters.

He explained that each cluster will have up to six top professors, supported by three postdoctoral fellows and three PhD students each, creating more than 200 researchers working over the next three years. “This initiative will build local insight, evidence-based policy, and global research credibility for Nigeria,” he said.

​Beyond domestic collaboration, the minister said the clusters are structured to attract foreign academic partnerships and catalytic funding, ensuring that research outputs, ranging from peer-reviewed publications to policy recommendations, are managed by a dedicated consulting firm to maintain transparency and rigorous accountability.

​​Dr Tijani noted that Nigeria’s digital economy currently contributes nearly 20 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), emphasising that the research clusters would provide the evidence-based thinking required to reach the government’s target of 21 percent GDP contribution.

He urged eligible Nigerian universities and accredited research institutions to immediately review the terms of reference and submit expressions of interest for participation in one or more of the six thematic clusters.

​The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, stated that the initiative aligns with the government’s mandate to move universities away from purely theoretical teaching toward practical entrepreneurship and innovation.

​”Today, I can tell you there are about 2.2 million vacancies out there worldwide today in the area of digital skills, in the area of software development methodologies, in the area of proactive security, natural language processing, quantum computing, AI machine learning, and IT automation. And these are areas of skills that Nigerians, young people, can sit in the comfort of their bedrooms and service any company around the world,” he said.

​The education minister further revealed that the government is digitising the entire educational management information system, which already tracks biometric data for approximately 33 million children.

At the briefing were Vice Chancellors, including Professor Ayodeji Agboola of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Professor Ebunoluwa Oduwole of Ajayi Crowther University, and Professor Simeon Banire of Obafemi Awolowo University, alongside other members of the academic community.

Source link