As Kwara State University’s Faculty of Management and Social Sciences hosts the 2nd edition of its International Conference, stakeholders have identified the need for greater use of digital technologies that enhance implementation of economic policies by improving efficiency, accountability, trust, and access to public services.
The opening ceremony of the conference themed “Consolidating Economic Reforms and Digital Transformation,” which held on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, at the Ilorin Innovation Hub, drew participants from within and outside Nigeria.
In his address at the ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor of Kwara State University, Malete, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Jimoh, noted that Nigeria’s ongoing economic reforms required research-driven and practical recommendations that can translate government policies into tangible benefits for citizens, urging researchers to collaborate on ways to make policy implementation more effective.
Describing the conference as an important platform for scholars, policymakers, and other stakeholders to exchange knowledge and perspectives on public finance, investment and economic transformation,
Professor Jimoh noted that the theme of the conference was timely and relevant, given the growing relevance of digital technologies to governance, economic management, and public policy.
“At Kwara State University, we expect our academic conferences to go beyond the delivery of papers. We expect them to produce ideas that can be applied.
“I expect participants to go beyond describing reforms and technologies shaping our economy to identifying what needs to change in our institutions, how digital tools can be used more effectively, and the skills needed to participate meaningfully in a changing economy,” the Vice-Chancellor stated.
Innovation at the Conference
The keynote speaker at the conference who is also the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Professor Kamil Kayode Kamaludeen stated that economic reforms could only be considered successful when they produced visible and measurable social outcomes.
Professor Kamaludeen identified six priorities for turning reforms into tangible results to include connecting economic reforms to opportunities; redesigning services before digitising them; building connected digital infrastructure and capable institutions; organising government around outcomes and local needs; strengthening accountability; and making inclusion and trust central to reform efforts.
He further identified opportunity, integrity, sustainability, and trust as key tests of successful reforms, stressing that technology alone could not deliver meaningful transformation.
He added that capable institutions, effective coordination, accountability, and citizen feedback were essential to converting public resources and digital investments into better services, productive opportunities, and improved livelihoods.
The lead paper presenter and professor of organisational behaviour and human resource management at Bournemouth University Business School in the United Kingdom, Gbola Gbadamosi, emphasised the importance of trust and effective organisational structures in implementing economic reforms through digital transformation.
Professor Gbadamosi called for increased investment in digital capabilities, noting the need to rebuild organisational trust as a critical component of successful digital and economic reforms.
Earlier in his opening address, the Acting Dean of the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Dr Abdulrahman Mustapha, noted that the Conference was growing in its reach as there were participants from Ghana and South Africa among the almost one hundred physical and virtual participants.
He commended the management of the university for the support, which culminated in the hosting of ICOMSS 2.0.
Participants at the Conference
