Cloud Computing: Important In Fostering Digital Economy Growth – DG NITDA
By Oluwole Alao
TECHDIGEST – Cloud Computing has been referred as the as the essential way of delivering services especially in database, networking, artificial intelligence and analytics over the internet, to offer faster innovations, flexible resources, reduced IT costs and better security.
This was according to the statement by the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), while making his keynote address at a Webinar organised by Galaxy Backbone, in collaboration with Zadara, a cloud computing company base in California, United States of America.
Mallam Abdullahi expressed his excitement at the theme of the event; ‘Cloud Services and the Journey Towards a Digital Economy’.
He averred that the COVID-19 pandemic has globally accelerated digital transformation.
He said, “According to McKinsey’s survey, the pandemic has accelerated the digitization of customer interactions by several years, with a global adoption acceleration of three years.”
Abdullahi stated that in March 2020, the virus took the world off the streets and forced everyone to make use of their phones and other devices for work, education, entertainment and socialization.
The NITDA boss added that demand for online services during this period skyrocketed and cloud computing played a crucial role in migrating processes online quickly, easily, efficiently and conveniently.
He opined that it was at this point that working remotely, adopting technological innovation ecosystem strategies to contain the virus, protect jobs and observing virtual engagements in government circles has become the new normal.
He further explained that, according to data from Gartner, in 2020, the combined end-user spending on cloud services was about $270 billion and is expected to increase by 23.1 percent this year to reach $332.3 billion and $397.5 billion by next year, 2022. “With respect to this, it is therefore necessary for the adoption and implementation of cloud computing in enhancing existing business models and deploying new innovative procedures”, he added.
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The Director General further expressed his pleasure at the efforts of Galaxy Backbone in providing reliable, efficient, and robust cloud services to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), as well as the private sector in Nigeria. This effort, he said, will accelerate the Nation’s journey to the digital economy and create opportunities for growth in the digital economy.
He asserted that, in Nigeria, private and public sectors have made tremendous progress in cloud computing adoption.
He also expressed his delight at the partnership between Galaxy Backbone and Zadara which was borne out of the implementation of the National Digital Economic Policy and Strategy by NITDA under the exemplary stewardship of the Honorable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
“At the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), we will align the implementation of the Nigeria Cloud Computing Policy (NCCP) and the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT to support this partnership”, the DG disclosed.
The Policy will encourage a cloud-first strategy in government with goals which are set to ensure a significant increase in the adoption of Cloud Computing among Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by 2024, Kashifu asserted.
He also urged both Galaxy Backbone and Zadara to explore more opportunities while laying emphasis that many promising trends to watch this year include hybrid cloud, distributed cloud, serverless computing, cloud-based disaster recovery, platform as a service, and edge computing.
“Also, don’t forget that the golden rule in business is customer-centricity; your service quality and customer loyalty are critical to your success. As a regulator, we must protect you and your customers. Therefore, I will advise you to constantly meet your Service Level Agreements (SLA) with your customers and by so doing, earn their loyalty”, the DG concluded.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Muhammad Bello Abubakar in his earlier remark stated that Galaxy Backbone over the years have invested a lot in building a digital technology service infrastructure adaptable to the changes around. He said they have evolved and re-engineered their operation to deliver a more efficient service in terms of connecting all the 36 states of the country.
The MD stated that the partnership is mainly on cloud computing with infrastructure and storage as services which are leveraging on data domestication and sovereignty. He gave assurance that through the partnership with Zadara, they will deliver on cloud service needs.
