Chartered surveyors under the auspices of RICS Nigeria Group are canvassing for investment in technology infrastructure to unlock Nigeria’s potential as a smart, connected and globally competitive nation.
The professionals during their 2024 annual conference on: “Building a Smart and Connected Nigeria: The Role of Technology Infrastructure”, held in Lagos, pointed out that most challenges faced in the built environment and Nigerian cities could be resolved by technology.
At the conference, Chairman, RICS Nigeria Group, Mrs Linda Patunola- Ajayi, an estate surveyor and valuer, said that technology infrastructure, spanning data centres, telecommunication towers and reliable energy systems formed the backbone of smart cities and connected economies.
The conference had in attendance the Head of Strategic Partnership, RICS-Middle East and Africa, Jordan D’ Gama; Keynote Speaker, Oluwole Oyeniran; CEO Rack Centre, Lars Johannison; CEO ATC Nigeria, Soji Maurice Diya; CEO, Lagos State Infrastructure Management Regulatory Agency, Oyekanmi Elegunshi, represented by Abimbola Motunrayo; Director, Trillium Real Estate Partners, Mrs Suzanne Oluwole, among other stakeholders.
Despite the importance of technology, Patunola-Ajayi said that Nigeria is still faced with several challenges, including limited funding, regulatory hurdles, and ever-present issue of inadequate power supply.
She urged members and stakeholders not to allow the challenges to deter them but to inspire innovation and collaboration.
According to her, the conference aimed to address these challenges and inspire actionable solutions.
She described the hosting of the conference as an opportunity to affirm commitment to excellence, innovation, and leadership in shaping Nigeria’s journey towards a smart and connected future.
She described functional city as a city where everything works smoothly and seamlessly.
“When you leverage on technology, it makes it easier for you to be able to do that. For example, since COVID, the modes of works have changed completely in the sense that people now stay at home and work from home. So, there should be technology that you can leverage on to make it very effective so that you can be at home and be working; you can be in Nigeria and connect with someone in any part of the world and you are working and everything is going on.
“For instance, if you are doing a development in Dubai or Saudi Arabia and you are trying to project someone in Nigeria to assist you in sale of that house, you should be able to show that person every aspect of the building leveraging on technology. That’s the idea,” she said.
She said she would like to see a Nigeria where people will not only depend on water generating through thermal but using gas, leveraging on solar and wind energy to generate power.
She attested to the fact that a lot of companies and people have been leveraging on technology “even as bad as electricity situation in Nigeria is.”
According to her, there was a huge opportunity in Nigeria to leverage on technology to generate power.
The incoming Chairman, Tayo Odunsi, who is currently the vice chairman of RICS Nigeria Group, said: “In the next 10 years, any house that does not have access to high-speed fiber will be less desirable than houses that have it.”
He said that high-speed internet is going to be a very important feature of real estate going forward
“However, it is not just about having data, it is about having high-speed data. The wifi models that we use today, as good as they are, they don’t guarantee high-speed data.
“Fiber is very critical. It is a blend of over micro waves and using the right fiber cabling to get data to houses. That is why the trend has already started. Most high places have this kind of data so that they can connect properly to different part of the world. It is going to become commonplace over the years,” he said.
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