The Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria) (CPN) has announced plans to host this year’s Information Technology (IT) Professionals’ Assembly/Annual General Meeting.
This year’s IT Assembly is the sixteenth edition in the series of Information Technology Professionals’ Assembly, TechEconomy.ng can report.
Similarly, the Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria), (CPN), established through Act No 49 of 1993, has reiterated that it is illegal for individual and organization to practice IT profession in Nigeria without subjecting themselves to the supervision of CPN.
The Act which was passed into law on 10th of June and gazetted on the 9th of August 1993, incorporated the entity to be in charge of the regulation, control and supervision of the computing profession and practice in Nigeria in line with Section 1 (2) of the Act.
Mr. Kola Jagun, the President/Chairman of Council, CPN, stated these during a press conference on Thursday May 13, 2022 as he highlighted that the IT Assembly, which is the flagship of all IT programmes in Nigeria, is an exclusive networking event for senior Information Technology (IT) decision makers, IT consultants, upcoming IT entrepreneurs, start–ups, IT practitioners, teachers and IT Systems administrators.
“The Assembly,” Jagun said, “is also a platform for some of the industry’s most innovative technology distribution and service providers to showcase their products and services; and for participants to appreciate the emerging technologies, trends, and risks that are associated with transforming the various industries using IT.
“Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Year 2020, the annual Assembly has taken a new structure in line with the dictates of this moment. In Year 2020, for example, it held purely as a virtual event, and last year, the event held as a hybrid event (virtual and physical). The Year 2022 edition of the Assembly will also be a hybrid event as it is the practice with programmes of its kind all over the world”.
He said that the year 2022 IT Professionals’ Assembly with the theme, “Leveraging IT for National Security and Economic Stability” will hold at NAF Conference Centre, Kado, Abuja from Wednesday 18th – Thursday 19th May 2022.
While stressing the importance of the CPN IT Assembly, the President/Chairman of Council said,
“Information technology plays a significant role in the Security and Economic Stability of any country and Nigeria is not different. Information Technology will continue to strengthen the national security against future upcoming threats and cyber-attacks. Information technology can help countries to identify potential threats, share information easily, and protect mechanisms in them.
“Information Technology (IT) has changed our way of life considerably. IT has shaped substantially the mode of peoples’ interaction, business process, entertainment and learning.
“There is no gainsaying that IT is encouraging globalization and exchange of information. The benefits of using these technologies are immense and they are here to stay. In the context of globalization and further economic integration in recent decades, the relationship between the economy and national security has become increasingly interlinked”.
Speaking specifically on the theme, Jagun said, “National security is important not only to the government, but to the nation as a whole. IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect process, transmit, and securely retrieve information. Today, the term information has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term has become very recognizable.
“Specifically, IT will help enable the nation to identify potential threats, share information more readily”.
Meanwhile, the 2022 CPN IT Professionals’ Assembly shall be considering, among other things, the relationships and the interplays, and how Information Technology (IT) could be leveraged for improved national security and economic stability.
“From the deliberations, the Assembly will come up with findings and recommendations that will be geared towards deploying advanced technologies through effective partnerships that promote economic, technological, and national security competitiveness”.
He also emphasized the need for practitioners to regularize their activities by registering with CPN.
“The Act 49 of 1993, referred to above, makes it mandatory for all persons and organizations seeking to engage, or engaged in the sale or use of computing facilities and the provision of professional services in computing as well as the use of computational machinery and techniques related thereto to be registered by the Council and licensed to carry out such activities. It is illegal to engage in computing and professional practice without satisfying the above condition- registration and possession of a current valid license”, he said.
