The Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, on Wednesday described digital entrepreneurship as key to achieving sustainable growth of the nation’s digital economy.
Abdullahi, who made the remark at a one-day action oriented round table/interface organised by Civil Society Groups for Good Governance with the theme ‘Maximizing Potentials of Digital Entrepreneurship for Youth Empowerment and Self Reliance’ in Abuja, explained that through innovations in technology, people had been able to do business transactions online much faster, thereby making business operations easier.
The NITDA boss, who delivered a paper on the topic ‘Fast-tracking Digital Revolution in Nigeria through the Mandate of NITDA’, noted that the rapid evolution of digital technology had led to tremendous efficiency and effectiveness in the work environment.
Specifically, he explained that digital revolution had resulted in digitization or digital transformation of processes as well as incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in virtually all aspects of lives, which is also accelerating at a high pace.
He stressed: “One thing is certain, there is no turning back now. Digital technologies will continue to grow and we will witness more technology disruptions in the future.”
Represented at the forum by his Special Assistant, Digital Transformation),Dr. Aminu Lawal, Abdullahi said that NITDA had various initiatives that are geared towards digital entrepreneurship, citing the Digital States Initiatives Programme as one of those initiatives.
According to him, NITDA has trained over 6000 youths on digital marketing, content creation, branding and many more, listing other capacity building trainings organized by the agency as including training People Living with Disabilities, Women in ICT and training artisans on mobile phone repairs to enable the beneficiaries derive economic value from digital technologies.
The technology expert further pointed out that in order to carry out its mandates and objectives as stipulated by the NITDA Act 2007, the agency was being guided by its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024, which is in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) for a Digital Nigeria.
He explained that the SRAP revolved round seven pillars with their respective goals and objectives namely, Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Digital Transformation; Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship; Cyber security; Emerging Technologies and Promotion of Indigenous Content.
Abdullahi also spoke on the level of progress that had been made by the agency towards the realization of the objectives and targets set in the roadmap, including Issuance of several IT developmental regulations and guidelines among which are the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR); Guidelines for the Management of Personal Data by Public Institutions in Nigeria; Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in Information and Communication Technology (ICT); and Framework and Guidelines for Public Internet Access; Guidelines for Clearance of Information Technology (IT) Project by Public Institutions; Guidelines for Registration of ICT Service Providers/Contractors for Delivery of Services by MDAs; Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA); Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF).
Others include; establishment of IT Hubs and Digital Capacity Building Centres across the country; provision of the enabling environment that facilitated the establishment of a number of Indigenous IT companies and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs); Strategic Digital Literacy Capacity Building Initiatives for Civil and Public Servants, artisans, women, unemployed youths, and People Living with Disabilities; enhancement of the security of the country’s cyberspace through the establishment of a number of sectoral Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Teams (CERRTs).
According to him, the NITDA also has continued to intensify its efforts in attracting investments in the ICT sector through collaboration with multi-national companies; initiated smart initiatives such as the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) and National Adopted School for Smart Education (NASSE); Established the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics as part of the Agency’s commitment towards transforming the Nigerian digital economy and creating a thriving ecosystem for innovation-driven entrepreneurship, job creation, and national development.
Abdullahi further noted that digital revolution had been characterized by the emergence and evolution of technologies such as computers, mobile phones, the World Wide Web, online social networking, virtual communities, and many more, all of which have brought many benefits and have affected the way people consume and use information.
