The Akwa Ibom State Government has restated its commitment to transform the state into one driven by information technology.

The Commissioner for Science and Technology, Mr. Samuel Efanga, made this known during a working visit to sites of the state's science park.

He said the project, when completed, would not only put the state ahead of other states in technology development, but would also empower its citizens and create wealth for it and Nigeria .

The state government, during the last political administration, unveiled a plan to set up a science park and connect all government offices with Internet, Voice over Internet Protocol, and video conferencing, with a plan to extend same to all local government areas.

The job was contracted four years ago and since then, a lot of efforts have been expended at ensuring the speedy completion of the project.

Having completed the first phase of the project, which provides Internet connectivity, voice over Internet protocol and video conferencing to the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State House of Assembly and the State Government Annex, the company handling the project, SBT Juul Africa, invited the ministry for a test run of the first phase of the project.

Addressing a press conference shortly after the visit, the commissioner, who has earlier demonstrated the use of VoIP via telephone from the State House of Assembly to the Ministry of Science and Technology, explained that the project would facilitate e-government in the state.

"Today we went round inspecting the facilities at the various sites and I am impressed with the state-of-the-art technological facilities that have been installed and running. The state government is investing heavily in the project and it is fully committed to the funding of the project," Efanga said.

According to him, the project is providing enabling infrastructure for the state and that the idea is to link all state government offices and the local government areas with one network.

When done, he said the governor or permanent secretary of any of the ministries could decide to hold video conferencing with staff of the same ministry from the comfort of their various offices.

He added that Nigeria was depending so much on oil revenue, promising that with the digital project of developing the science park, the state would be looking at alternative sources of revenue generation.

The Chief Executive Officer, Teledom Group, partner to SBT Juul Africa, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, commended the governor for believing in the project of his predecessor and for continuing with it.

"No nation can grow effectively if there is no continuity in governance," Ekuwem said, adding that the governor had been in the forefront of the technology drive for the country, having assumed the position of Public Secretary of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria some years ago and has organized several information technology events for the country.

He said the planned science park was to provide enabling environment for knowledge workers to design and develop their ideas.