Nigeria today does not only represent the largest single concentration of people of African decent under the universe, but indeed, has become the 6th largest oil producer in the world and the 7th most populated nation on this Planet! (See Fig.1)These indicators should be of great concern to us all, as we prepare to engage the emerging globalized knowledge society.

The success of our gross national development will therefore to a large extent - be determined by our understanding of the complexities inherent in the Technological Revolution, maximum indigenous input, balanced contributions and in particular, the mastery of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) dynamics at all levels.

The New Creative Class
To achieve the set goals above within the context of our national economic and social development plans (intertwined with other global challenges) - incorporating critical and indeed, mandatory assignments - embedded in the scope of deliverables for actualizing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we must groom a new creative class! No where, can this be better achieved than in our Universities. Building IT critical mass in Education, Governance, Power Infrastructure, Art and Culture, SME Industry and Citizens empowerment remain core strategic imperatives for the survivability of our nation.

The topic of my presentation lecture is: “Information And Communications Technology (ICT) And The Future Of LASU - Imperatives For The Knowledge Economy” I have consciously chosen this topic in recognition of the cumulative efforts of the University to refocus education to engage the future national and global challenges of the emerging knowledge society.

It also serves as my endorsement for the on-going ICT Roadmap Blueprint originated by LASU to revamp that critical branch and body of knowledge and in particular, as a professional acknowledgement of the support of the Vice-Chancellor's vision (and its mission critical approach) to inject and enthrone indigenous ICT content and skill-sets deliverables in our national education pyramid.

Information technology (concepts and definitions.)

i. The term Information Technology (I.T) includes computer (computational machineries) and communications technology as well as the associated software. Advancements in IT would imply changes on the supply side (Computer Hardware, Software and Telecommunications Equipment and Microelectronics based industries) as well as on the demand side (i.e Applications of I.T in all economic sectors, including Flexible Manufacturing, Financial Transaction Systems, Information Systems, Product Channel Logistics, Engineering and Architectural Services, Electronic Publishing, Research and Development and Management Information Systems).

ii. Information and Telecommunications Technologies (ICTs) would imply the convergence of computing and Telecommunications Technologies and its use or applications for global Internet, Intranet, Extranet, World Wide Web (www), Visual Reality, Cyberspace the new digital mentality or culture.

iii. Information Networks provide fundamentally different means of design, production and organization and thus represent technological breakthroughs, which increase economic efficiency and transforms traditional means of bringing products to the market.

Most of these activities will be integrated through computer network systems with geographically expanding reach. In this regard, I.T office networks will/must merge with factory floor networks to allow the smooth interlocking of what are now discrete phases, design, production planning, machining and assembling, inventory and stock control, ordering, finance, custom regulations, legislation, shipping-delivering and transportation, purchasing and distribution (Source: ICCP, “Opportunities and Policy Implications for the 1990s, No. 30, OECD, 1992).

Developing Countries and Technophobia
According to Dr. Philip Chukwurah Emeagwali, “Technology is a culture developed through constant observatory insight into issues that challenge the mind. To understand and master Technology, we must first of all eliminate the phobia that beclouds our understanding and judgment. Above all, we must embrace and make friend with science & technology processes.”
He goes on to conclude with emphasis: “Knowledge is the engine that drives economic growth, and Africa cannot eliminate poverty without first increasing and nurturing its intellectual capital.”

Technophobia as Impediment to Technology Development
There is need to recognise the existence of fear of Technology (Technophobia) in our society - due to inadequate understanding of its concept, processes and design. Technophobia is and remains a great impediment to understanding, applying and effectively using technology for national development and wealth creation. If we must arrive at the beneficial destination of true nation building, there is a fundamental need to psychologically eliminate this fear of technology in us, and build techno-culture as a gateway to technology mastery.

Also, it is the active process of exploring and learning, rather than the passive factual acquisition of knowledge.” Indeed, throughout history, science, math and technology have flourished only where and when all the arts have flourished. No evidence exists that this will not be the case in the future. Training-the trainer leads to sustainability in Education.

Speed as Critical Mass of Information Revolution
To demonstrate the attribute and impact of the speed phenomenon in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), the following statistics become significant. According to the International telephone Union (ITU), “It took the telephony 75 years to reach 55million people around the world, whereas it took the Internet World-Wide-Web (www) only 4 years to reach more than 55million people world-wide.”

Historically, communication technologies have played a key role in societies. The exchange of information through different means of communication among nations newspapers, radio, television, etc., - have influenced human development by drawing economic geographies, shaping national identities and rebalancing the distribution of power within societies and among nations. Nowhere is this influence more evident than in the current information revolution. This has led to new bodies of knowledge such as Bio-Informatics, Nano-technology Megatronics and so on.

In assessing the development and diffusion of Science and Technology globally, three groups of countries may be distinguished: countries that are leaders in this field, including the innovation, production and generation of Science and Technology roadmap as well as the application of its research findings.

This is followed by those countries where some capacity for the production and application of Science and Technology has been developed but continued to depend on the first group for the survival of their production lines.
Finally, the last group is those where Science and Technology is still at the embryonic stage and access to it depends solely on importation. This group often neglect and lack the enabling environment and Research and Development in Science and Technology. Nigeria belongs to this group sadly!

As a people, we must now recognize the dilemma of knowledge under-development in Nigeria and ensure that adequate solutions are found. By taking up this challenge, we should ensure that our vision and perspectives on technology will constitute the springboard for technology development. By so doing, we can become a member of group of countries where Science and Technology is placed at the highest priority of development and livelihood and thereby, accelerate and benefit our creation of wealth mission immensely.

Knowledge as a Patch of Multi-dimensional Layers
As we all know, knowledge is a patch of multi-dimensional Layers formed just like the Earth crust. There is no single creative technique or imaginative skill that is adequate for all thinking requirements. Every idea can and should be transformed into numerous equivalent forms, each of which possesses a different formal expression and emphasizes a different group of thinking tools. The more ways students are able to imagine an idea, the greater their chances of insight, and the more ways in which they can express that insight, the greater the chances that others will be able to understand and appreciate it.

Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein, co-authors of Sparks of Genius, conducted extensive research into the minds of inventive people and showed that creativity can be encouraged and enhanced through the exercise of thinking tools coupled with a desire for what is known as “synosia” a unified understanding linking mind and body, sense and sensibility.

Cyberspace and Cyberplace
In less than 10 years, between 1994 and 2003, the mammoth global network of computer systems collectively referred to as the Internet blossomed from an obscure tool used by government researchers and academics into a worldwide mass communications medium. Today, the Internet is now recognized as the leading carrier of all communications and financial transactions this will impact on almost all forms of life and work in the 21st century. The major sector where the total ICT impact will be so dramatic is Education.

Presently, communities and nations around the globe, often without being directly conscious of it, are beginning to design the initial blueprints for the so-called “cyberplaces” of the 21st century. Singapore has implemented its “Intelligent Island Plan”. Japan is working toward an electronic future known as “Technopolis” or “Teletopia”. As early as 1976, the French launched an aggressive plan called “Telematique”, which sought to place computers on every desktop and in every residence in the country.

In the United States in the mid-1990s, the Clinton Administration unveiled its ambitious “National Information Initiative”, or NII, with the goal of linking every school and school-age child to the Internet by the turn of the century.

Being a lecture delivered by Chris Uwaje, (fncs, fiap) managing director, Connect Technologies Limited and 1st vice-president, Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), to the Lagos State University (LASU) School of Management, Ojo, Lagos