Board and management of Communication Week Media Limited, publishers of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek, at the weekend announced that this year’s Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit

And Leadership lecture will focus on Impact of AI and IoT on business operational efficiency. Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership lecture, widely regarded as the most prestigious

Annual event available in the ICT industry in Nigeria is in its 17th year. The lecture holds on May 30, 2026 at Oriental Hotel Lekki, Lagos, according Ken Nwogbo,

Editor-in-chief of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek the organizers of the event. He said that this year’s event “is digital transformation edition” to recognise and celebrate organizations and individuals in the ICT industry that have impacted in digital transformation of the economy.

“Most of these organizations and individuals have consistently being voted by our readers as leaders in their areas of operations and we have decided to reward them in this special edition, tag: ‘Digital Transformation Edition 2026’.”

Nwogbo added that, Digital transformation, driven by AI and IoT, will fundamentally boosts business operational efficiency by automating complex tasks, enabling real-time data analysis, and reducing costs.

“IoT technology optimizes resources, predict maintenance needs, and enhance decision- making, allowing companies to streamline workflows and improve productivity across sectors like manufacturing and logistics.

“It is an emerging technology that has impacted lifestyles and has changed the way we think and act, and the way we interact with each other. It has also changed the way we work as it enables very large-scale monitoring, control, and automation, and has impacted the digital transformation of organizations in different industries”, he said.

According to Nwogbo, “the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence exists as a bringing force in organizational communication. AI tools perform repetitive jobs, deliver simultaneous translations, and register team communication patterns, which lead to better understanding of group interactions. AI chatbots help manage customer support inquiries thus enabling staff members to dedicate their efforts toward complex work activities”.

The Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished (ABoICT Lecture 2026) is designed to explore efforts to put Nigeria on the global Information and communications Technologies map.

The lecture series however is reserved for distinguished achievers in the ICT sector. Past lecturers included Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then executive vice chairman, Nigeria

Communications Commission (NCC); Uche Orji, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, former Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; Prof. Adewale Obadare, chief visionary officer, Digital Encode; Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, founder, Hyperspace &amp; NeuraL AI and John Obaro, CEO and founder of Systemspecs; Prof. Isa Pantanmi, former minister of Communications and Digital Economy; among others.

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