The future of digital publishing panel hosted by The Guardian

The 2016 edition of the Social Media Week Lagos conference and one of the pilot events of the week-long conference was the Future of Digital Publishing panel hosted by The Guardian Nigeria.

The panel was moderated by Peace Hyde, CEO Aim Higher Consulting, with the panelists being Teju Ajani, Head Content Partnerships, Youtube, Google; AdetomiwaAladekomo, Nigerian Breweries, Senior Digital Manager; and Tolu Ogunlesi, Senior Special Adviser to the President on New Media.

The panelists discussed ways in which Nigerian's could leverage technology and all the new social media platforms to help in business and personally.

They also spoke about the challenges facing the Nigerian new media industry, especially with the state of the micro-economy and the dwindling fortunes of the Naira.

"I see this job as a way of getting people to engage with the government. I hope to disappoint people that think this position is all about hashtags," said Tolu Ogunlesi, commenting on his role as the newly appointed adviser to the president on new media.

The panelists emphasized on the fact that Nigerians have to be ready to put in the work if they are to utilize new media to the best of their advantage.

"There is money in video, but if people want to make headway in video, people have to be ready to put in the work," said Teju Ajani.

They also listed monetization, cost of Internet, amongst other things as part of the challenges facing new media in Nigeria at the moment.

You can follow Pulse Tech's coverage of the Social Media Week Lagos here or follow the hashtag #SMWLagos on all social media platforms.