Vanessa Obioha
Hub operators, startup founders, investors and other stakeholders recently gathered at CcHub in Lagos for a technical validation workshop on the National Innovation Hubs Standard Framework, an initiative of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), through the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation, and convened by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
Designed as an ecosystem development and support instrument, the Framework seeks to establish a common national approach to the identification, classification, quality assurance and continuous improvement of innovation hubs across the country. The Framework assesses hubs across seven areas: governance, infrastructure, programme delivery, human capital, networks and partnerships, track record, and sustainability.
The Lagos workshop, attended by more than 60 participants, took place weeks after a stakeholders’ engagement in Abuja.
At the workshop, CcHub facilitator, Gbanaibolulou Burutolu, took participants through the identification and assessment of innovation hubs. He explained that the defining characteristics of an innovation hub include its structure and documentation of activities.
He also outlined the three proposed tiers of innovation hubs — foundational, established and leading — prompting participants to assess their own hubs and consider which tier they currently belong to.
Speaking at the workshop, National Coordinator, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation, Victoria Fabunmi, said some of the key concerns raised by stakeholders centred on how inclusive the Framework would be and whether it could become another licensing mechanism.
“It is a living document,” she said. “We are being open-minded. Whatever questions they have, we are happy to answer and provide context. Where what is provided is insufficient, we are able to take that feedback and tweak it so that by the time we are putting out the final framework to be implemented, it would be a reflection of all the feedback and input of the ecosystem.”
She further stressed the importance of innovation hubs to Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, noting that their contribution often receives less attention than that of the startups they support.
“It is very clear the role innovation hubs play within the context of our ecosystem. They do a lot of work that people really don’t recognise or appreciate. We often focus on startups. But now we are spotlighting the people who provide support to the startups.
“With this Framework, what we envision is that the hubs will be strengthened and become even more entrepreneurial in terms of how they structure the organisations they have built and ask themselves critical questions about their typology and how they evolve.
“The goal of the Framework is to provide a developmental pathway for them to be strengthened and do more. We believe it is going to provide a lot of value.”
The next validation workshop is scheduled to take place in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, where stakeholders from neighbouring states are expected to participate.