Featured Speaker(s)
Jide Awe, an entrepreneur and public policy consultant with extensive experience in digital development is one of the first people to be certified competent in Accelerating the Implementation of the African Union's Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024) by the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
He offers Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy advisory solutions through consultancies and participation in and organization of seminars, workshops, meetings, research, policy dialogues and capacity building events. His focuses on STI for sustainable development and the achievement of the STISA-2024 goals as well as the improvement of STI awareness, policy literacy and capacity.
He has worked in the Banking, Communications and Information Technology industries in Nigeria, delivering ICT Consulting, Management, Education and Web content provision services as a Communications engineer, Systems programmer, ICT manager and Entrepreneur with LM Ericsson, United Bank for Africa, Ecobank, CTB and Jidaw Systems Limited.
Jide Awe's digital development experiences and policy solutions cover areas such as private sector development, digital education, digital agriculture, data protection and privacy, policy development and advisory, content provision and career coaching. He played a pioneering role in Computer Education and online local content provision, founding the forerunning website for tech development, Jidaw.com
He has provided public policy and development advisory consulting services in the development of ICT policies at state and national levels working with state agencies, the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). He was recently appointed a Member of Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) Committee of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB).
He contributed to advancing digital development while serving in advocacy and professional bodies by setting up and managing several initiatives as a member of Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN) and a Fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS). In recognition of his considerable expertise and advocacy background as well as his aspirations for STI development in Nigeria, he was elected to the National Executive Council (NEC) of NCS to chair key committees at different periods.
In line with his passion for advocacy, he writes and speaks on innovation, change, disruption, transformation and the future. His contributions have been published in national and international media. He has also setup and been involved in youth innovation, children online safety, women in tech, STI for Africa, ICT career development, information security and digital development initiatives.
His innovative vision that technology is about people has defined the nature of his career and interests for over 25 years. In line with his vision and commitment to contributing towards the use of STI to realize potential, he promotes STISA-2024 and other related initiatives in Africa while pushing for inclusive innovation, ethical practices and increased societal relevance of the technology space.
The reward of contributing towards the development of an inclusive, sustainable and more globally competitive STI enabled nation and continent is one of his greatest motivators. For him, STI development and policy formulation to transform society is a calling and not a job.
