The Federal Government has inaugurated the Volunteers Expert Groups (VEGs) for the National Digital Skills Strategy (NDSS) as part of its sustained drives to digitalize the nation’s economy.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa , who inaugurated the groups on behalf of the government, explained that the groups were set up to position Nigeria as a global digital talent factory and bridge the digital skills gap in the country.
Inuwa, during the virtual event organized for the inauguration of the groups, described the initiative of the Federal Government as a milestone in its efforts to collaborate with vibrant and talented ICT experts for co-creating the NDSS.
He appealed to the members of the groups to produce a comprehensive strategy for setting up standards and developing digital literacy and skills as well as developing IT professional skills of different proficiency levels in the country.
The Director-General stressed that the NDSS would focus on bridging the gaps between the digital skills supply pipeline and in-demand skill sets required for the future of work in Nigeria.
Earlier in her opening remarks, the Acting Director, the Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department at NITDA, Dr. Amina Magaji, recalled that the agency called for application from Nigerians for the NDSS VEG.
She said: “A rigorous screening process was used to identify key people who are experts and will be able to add value to the strategy.
“The selected persons have built expertise within their different ecosystems or workgroup, either in building their skills, in skills of developing strategies, or in building ecosystems specifically in the technology and innovation ecosystem”, Magaji added.
Clarifying on the division of the VEGs, the Acting Director explained that the VEGs had been grouped into four clusters, namely Digital Literacy Cluster, Digital Capacity Cluster, IT Professional Cluster, and M&E Funding & Partnership Cluster, consisting of the Lead, Deputy Lead, and Members.”
According to her, the digital literacy cluster focuses on basics and foundation, the digital capacity focuses on IT or Non-IT professional skills while the IT professional cluster focuses on Technology skills such as coding and non-coding skills.
Magaji further clarified that the M&E Funding & Partnership cluster would work with all the three clusters by monitoring and evaluating the initiatives, policies and incentives within the documents as well as seeks for fund and partnership.
