Rising from a two-day Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum Series 8^th edition on Internet Governance for Development (IG4D) on Day one, Thursday 2^nd June 2016 with the theme, “Internet Governance: Creating Opportunities for All Nigerians” and on Day two, Friday 3^rd June 2016, the Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable, in Commemoration of the World IPv6 Day with the theme; “Creating Opportunities for Nigerians with IPv6” at the Digital Bridge Institute, Lagos Hall, Cappa-Oshodi, Lagos we the participants submit as follows:

RECALL

1.     That the forum has been created and nurtured for the past 8 years as a platform to x-ray issues and potentials germane in the Information Communications Technologies (ICT) sector, with particular emphasis to computing, internet governance-related issues, propagating its use, impacting positively on young minds and new users as well as helping to further advance Nigeria in the ever-rapidly advancing phenomenon of global ICT.

2.     The aim of Nigeria IPv6 Roundtable is to create a forum that will encourage public discourse and create awareness on technological and business benefits of Internet Protocol version Six (IPv6) addresses and to motivate organisations across the industry - internet service providers, hardware makers, operating system vendors and web companies to prepare their services for IPv6, and also join the rest of the globe to celebrate the World IPv6 Day, in addition to offering a platform for networking.

OBSERVATION

1.     Internet is one of the primary influences on globalization and it is increasingly playing an important role in the ability of nations to participate meaningfully in the global economic activities.

2.     All businesses today depend on the internet to reach customers, manage suppliers and conduct most internal and external business operations

3.     Nigeria has a huge potential for digital dividends considering her high population density.

4.     Mobile broadband remains the fastest growing telecommunications market segment, with continuous double-digit growth rates in 2014 and is growing fastest in developing countries

5.     All regions continue to show double-digit growth rates but Africa stands out with a growth rate of over 40 percent – twice as high as the global average

6.     Mobile broadband is the most dynamic market segment and stands at around 78 active subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in Europe and the Americas; Africa is the only region where mobile broadband penetration remains below 20 percent.

7.     Nigeria has one of the largest and fastest growing telecoms market in Africa

8.     Telecommunication is the 5^th most resilient sector in Nigeria.

9.     Telecommunications constitutes a significant portion of the Nigerian economy and It contributes 8.8 percent to the nation’s economy as such, it should be supported.

10.                        NCC has removed the barriers to market entry and now rely upon natural market forces and technology to ensure market sustainability

11.                        IPv4 (the underlying architecture that has supported the internet thus far) is almost exhausted and is not nearly enough to meet the ever-expanding needs of the commercial internet.

12.                        The rapidly growing numbers of internet users, network and connected devices require, more unique identifiers than IPv4 can provide.

OBJECTION

1.     We, the participants at NDSF-Nigeria DigitalSENSE Forum 2016, hereby condemn in totality the bill before the National Assembly for a 9 percent tax on all electronic services as this will further impoverish the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths, thereby making it more difficult for people to access and share knowledge which the electronic communication is made to abridge.

2.       The Federal Government should make Telecoms Infrastructure as a critical national resource to help in protecting online jobs and businesses

3.     While we desire for a quick migration to IPv6, there is also the need to prepare for the challenges that come with it, as such the Federal Government is advised to be more proactive in providing the enabling environment for a smooth migration of the nation to IPv6.

4.     Federal Government should focus more on the use of IT to create more jobs, create more wealth and also focus on building IT capacity of our youths.

5.     The advantage of the ICT adoption in governance and ultimately Nigeria will stimulate transparency, productivity, efficiency and timely operations.

6.     To further create opportunities for Nigerians, there is an urgent need to address the challenges of the industry and leverage on the opportunities. One of which is to continue to build communications infrastructures (satellite, terrestrial networks and telecommunications) to aid transition and lower the barriers to entry, which will further increase participation and eventually drive ICT