The University of Nigeria has signed an agreement to develop disaster management Apps for Japanese firms. The agreement was recently signed in Tokyo, Japan by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Prof Charles Igwe and the representatives of Appleach Corporation and the Nafconnects for Africa and the World Inc, Japan
Prof Igwe said that the agreement covers the outsourcing of innovative ICT software developed in the University of Nigeria to the Japanese organizations.
According to the Vice-Chancellor, the outsourced softwares, under the agreement, would include a safety confirmation App, with biometric and Artificial Intelligence (AI) features , which is useful in monitoring safety of people in times of natural disasters, such as earthquakes and flooding. The agreement also includes development of user-friendly book-keeping and accounting software.
“Our target is to foster international collaborations that can help improve the revenue of the UNN and help grow the Nigerian economy”, Prof Igwe told news men
The software supply agreement was a follow-up to an earlier MoU signed between the University of Nigeria and some Japanese firms which would ensure that staff and students of the university benefit from skill acquisition, international internship placements, and the establishment of university-based spin-off companies by the Japanese partners.
“It is expedient for the University of Nigeria to expand its partnership beyond the traditional academic sector and embrace the private sector with international outlook in order to give our products competitive advantage at the global market”, he said.
The supply of the outsourced ICT projects are to be coordinated by the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED) UNN, the Faculty of Engineering as well as the Laboratory of Industrial Electronics, Power Devices and New energy system (LIEPNES), UNN, depending on the projects specification.
The Director of ACE-SPED and Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Prof Emenike Ejiogu, who accompanied the Vice-Chancellor to sign the agreement, said that the staff and students of UNN have the capacity to meet-up with the expectations from the UNN in the Tokyo agreement.
“We are excited about this development, it will expose our products to the world”, the Dean of Engineering said.
Prof. Ejiogu explained that the University of Nigeria will earn revenue by supplying the ICT innovative software to the Japanese firms through a software development fee that would be paid per software project.
He added that the agreement would provide opportunities for staff and students of the UNN to go on internship at the Japanese firms.
