NIPOSTs What3Words: ICT expert alleges intellectual property infringement
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by ikenna uwadileke3 this is the first time i am hearing of this and i can assure you that this allegation is false alao said1 amoo chief executive officer arbel energy and logistics made the allegation in abuja1 he said niposts intention to use a foreign technology to increase the number of homes it could deliver to and improve delivery services in preparation for the take-off of nigerias e-commerce violated presidential executive order no. 51 item 6 contained in the executive order provides that ministries departments and agencies shall adopt local technologies to replace foreign ones where they met set standards1 he however said that niposts adoption of the uk technology what3words not only violated the order in promoting indigenous innovations to replace foreign ones but infringed on intellectual property right1 he said that nipost poached and disenfranchised his indigenous app gridcodes needed for effective codification of addresses in nigeria1 amoo urged the federal government to cancel the moves by nipost as it infringed on his patent right1 he said this app has the potential to offer the needed service free of charge1 i began to offer gridcodes to the federal government for adoption as the national system for codification of physical addresses in nigeria also for free1 i made this offer through a letter to mr bisi adegbuyi the director-general of nipost and the letter was received on jan. 18 20181 an ict expert mr adefolajuwon amoo has accused nigeria postal service nipost of intellectual property infringement by adopting a foreign technology what3words as the national system for codification of physical addresses in nigeria1 not only did nipost unethically hack my technology it is also misleading the federal government into promoting foreign technology called what3words he said1 amoo emphasised that gridcodes would benefit governance security and commerce in nigeria1 according to him it will make nigeria future-ready for technologies such as integration of drones into the business of parcel delivery1 he said that nipost in concert with the uk technology had asked nigerians to pay n1000 annually each for their addresses to be accessible to business and government1 this is unfair unethical and exploitative of nigerians. the gridcodes are 100 per cent free and do exactly what the uk technology does1 to charge every nigerian money for what is free is unbecoming use of the enablement of a privileged government office1 the playing field for national development has never been more level than it is today1 the future is information technology digitisation and artificial intelligence. we have the skills and the knowledge to end nipost app that will bring unknown people to our doorsteps every day1 an app that makes us pay 180 billion naira annually when it is free a nipost app that will lock 75 per cent of nigerians out of a digital transformation because they are too poor amoo said1 in his reaction the nipost corporate communications officer mr franklin alao denied the allegation saying that it was false1 however rather than contact me i found out to my consternation that nipost had on july 31 2018 released an app that both poached and attempted to disenfranchise my own product1