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By Jonah Iboma Before the end of 2008, Microsoft Corporation will include Nigeria‘s dominant languages -Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo in the Microsoft Office application suite. MS Office is a group of applications consisting of Word, a word processing application; Powerpoint, used for presentations; Excel, a spreadsheet application, and Access, an application used for databases. By the inclusion, of the indigenous languages, users of the applications will be able to see them displayed in their preferred languages and commands can be given and receive received in any of the local languages. Citizenship Manager, Microsoft Nigeria, Mrs. Jummai Ajijola, told our correspondent in an interview in Lagos that work had reached advanced stages on the project, which she said was designed to bring technology closer to people on the Africa continent. She added that the project was part of a bigger scheme by Microsoft to include African languages in its applications so that more people could use technology...

By Jonah Iboma Irked by the low level of local content in Nigeria’s booming information and communications technology industry, the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria has said that it will take steps to redress the situation. The trade body of telecom companies in Nigeria said that as a first step towards solving the problem, it would convey a national summit that would examine the issue and set a path on local content development. The Executive Secretary ATCON, Mr. Godwin Morgan, noted that it was regrettable that despite the high number of ICT professionals in the country, adequate attention had not been paid to the issue of developing and building local content. He said that though attempts were being made by a few concerned professionals in the area of developing local content in both the hardware and software aspect of ICT, much still needed to be done to achieve the desired progress and position the country for global competitiveness. He said, ”ATCON strongly b...

By Jonah Iboma Makau Polaris, an information technology training institution, has opened its doors to students and other professionals in Lagos. Designed to be the first of its kind in Nigeria, the institute, with fully installed array of state-of-the-art IT equipment, admits both first level students and highly skilled professionals for its wide range of courses. The school, which has over 150 training slots, according to the design, is the first of such to offer a truly e-learning facility in Nigeria. Its first office was opened to customers at Isolo, Lagos, recently. ”The good thing with Makau Polaris is that the individual has the opportunity to learn at his own pace. He is not being measured with the same yardstick as the next person who probably came in at the same time,” the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Olaminiyi Ayodele said. He added that the pace of completing a chosen course would depend largely on how much time an individual chose to put into studies, adding that t...

By Jonah Iboma Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications says it is ready to offer more services in Nigeria, especially in the light of government‘s desire to increase access to more users in the country. The Chairman of Danisat Nigeria Limited, Mr. Peder Seldelman, whose firm is Thuraya‘s Nigerian sole representatives, the firm has solutions today that can effectively address Nigeria‘s rural telephony and tracking challenges. According to him, Thuraya‘s satellite covers all of Nigeria effectively and this made the firm to have the resources to offer a range of services. He added that the firm had also introduced more customer friendly tariff that made the service more affordable for local use in the country. Seldelman added that Thuraya provided a good back up service especially in the light of challenges that often keep services of mobile operators at less-than optimal requirement. This, he noted, would greatly benefit firms operating in the deep oceans and people in rural areas where mo...