When it was time for decorate outstanding organizations and individuals at the forefront of technology and innovation in Nigeria for the year 2017, it was not surprising that the maiden ceremony did not fall below expectation.

Creme de la crème, experts and Industry stakeholders at the Nigeria Technology Innovation and Telecoms Awards (NTIT Award) in Lagos were all fingers crossed with keen interest on the special award for Internet of Things (IoT) Provider of the Year among others in the category.

No doubt attention was on this award because of the big impact of IoT to the Nigeria socio-economy.

Nigeria has been tinkering with the idea of smart city and cashless policies in order to be among the first 20 nations of the world in the year 2020 and possibly compete favourably in the global marketplace.

While cashless policy reduces the amount of cash transactions by entrenching a card based transaction and virtual payment systems, Smart city ushers in an incomparably flickering city with clean environment, less crime, pollution and less strenuous public transport system.

However, the major bottlenecks to achieving these great and revolutionary ideas have always been how to tear down the old order. Changing to a 21st century way of living is only gaining slow momentum in Africa and appears to make the implementations of cashless policy and smart city look like rocket science.

Nonetheless, one business that has thus been at the forefront of IoT services in technology space is Vodacom Business Nigeria. No wonder it was a hall of standing ovation and applause when Managing Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria, LanreKolade, stepped out to receive the award on behalf of the company.

The elated Kolawole in a chat after the award reiterated that “the way out is for the country to quickly cash in on the potentials of the bourgeoning Internet of Things, IoT revolution. Stating that “using IoT technology, a host of intelligently connected services become possible”

To add to the honour same IoT Company went home with Telecom Business of the Year and the Enterprise Service Provider of the Year awards. “With technology we have been able to do business in a different way that is seamless and client friendly,” said,kolade.

“We are honored to receive these awards. This endorses our commitment to delivering world-class total communications solutions to businesses in Nigeria. Our gratitude goes to our customers whose businesses are driving the Nigerian economy and the men and women at Vodacom who work round the clock to support these businesses,” Kolade added.

“These accolades follow long standing track records that Vodacom Business Nigeria has developed in the market over time, delivering enterprise-grade Connectivity Solutions, Cloud and Hosted Services, Enterprise Voice Solution and Internet of Things to business in Nigeria.” OlusolaTeniola, ATCON President said while fielding questions about the awardee.

“Vodacom Business Nigeria is taking the lead in the market with Internet of Things (IoT), using this technology to empower healthcare delivery, education management and enterprises to be more efficient,” Teniola added has he noted that Vodacom stands stall among the over 50 companies that shortlisted for different categories of awards.

Among dignitaries present at the forum was the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communication Commission(NCC) Professor Umar Danbattawho also onbehalf of the industry regulator bagged the award for Best Regulator of the Year.

In his brief remarks he explained that IoT will drive digital transformation in Nigeria. According to him, for IoT is an essential business to remain relevant in today’s digital world. “The Internet of Things is playing an increasing role as an enabler of economic development. Governments across Africa continue to adopt this technology to leapfrog developmental stages, improve service delivery, supporting healthy, well-educated and economically active citizens.”

Vodacom Business is a leading pan-African corporate connectivity and telecommunications provider.