TECHDIGEST – President Muhammadu Buhari today in Abuja inaugurated the Presidential Council on Digital Economy and E-government, promising that his administration will continue to take advantage of digital technologies to transform every sector of the economy.

The President directed the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami to chair the Council on his behalf and give regular updates.

He tasked members of the Council to work towards further strengthening the capacity of government to develop, adopt and deploy digital technologies to make government more efficient and transparent, thereby improving Nigeria’s global standing in the ease of doing business index.

The President noted that the Council, whose members have been arrived at after a painstaking and thorough process, would provide the oversight needed to bring about a veritable structure for accelerating achievements in digital economy and in the implementation of e-government in the country.

Speaking during the inauguration, President Buhari said: ‘‘I launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) on the 28th of November, 2019 and expanded the mandate of the then Ministry of Communications to include Digital Economy.

‘‘The implementation of that policy and mandate has enabled us to achieve significant progress and record a number of unprecedented achievements.”

‘‘The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy showed that the steps we took in developing and implementing NDEPS were indeed timely.

“For example, the Information and Communications Technology sector was the fastest growing sector in both the fourth quarter of 2020 and the entire year 2020, based on the Report by the National Bureau of Statistics”, he added.

The President noted that the sector’s 14.70% double-digit growth rate was instrumental in supporting our country to exit the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, far earlier than predicted by experts.

‘‘The significant contribution of 17.92% by the ICT sector to our GDP in the second quarter of 2021 is another example of the important impact of the digital economy on the overall economy.

‘‘In the same vein, the growth of our digital economy sector enabled us to cope with the effect of the lock-down as both activities of the government and private sector, as well as educational activities, were able to move to online platforms,’’ he said.

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Members of the 27-man Committee
The 27-man committee chaired by Pantami on behalf of the President has the following members: Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya, Governor of Gombe State; Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State; Abdullahi Sule, Governor of Nasarawa State; Godwin Obaseki, Governor of Edo State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State and Senator Hope Uzodinma, Governor of Imo State.

Others are Dr Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning; Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, Head of Civil Service of the Federation; Prof. Umar G. Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO Nigerian Communications Commission; Prof. M.B Abubakar, Managing Director/CEO, Galaxy Backbone Limited; Dr. Abimbola Alale, Managing Director/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and Engr Aliyu A. Aziz, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission.

Also in the committee are Mr. Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, Senior Special Assistant, (Digital Transformation) to the President; Engr Olufemi Olufeko, Director, e-Government Dept, Federal Ministry Of Communications and Digital Economy; A.B. Okauru, Director General, Nigeria Governors Forum; Prof. Simon Adesina Sodiya, President Nigeria Computer Society and Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

Other members are Prof. Kabiru Bala, Representative of Academia and Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaira; Prof. Nnenna Oti, Representative of the Academia and Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Owerri and Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Secretary and the Director-General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency.

Mr. Sungil Son, Country Director (KOICA), Dr Olufemi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Research & Development) to Hon. Minister of Communication & Digital Economy and Abubakar A. Dahiru, Special Assistant (Cyber Security & Digital Identity) to the Minister are also members of the Committee.

Source: Nairametric 

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TECHDIGEST – Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami said technology-led with effective service delivery which puts citizens in the picture, is the key idea underlying public sector reforms in the country. Professor Pantami made this disclosure today Thursday while delivering his keynote address titled Emerging Technologies, Partnerships and Collaborations on Citizens-Centred Technology Governance at the 11th African day International Conference on collaborations on citizens-centred technology conference, organised by the Republic of Slovenia.

Professor Pantami in his virtual address informed participants that “citizens-centred governance involves new ways of enabling citizens to prosper. It aims at providing an environment in which all citizens irrespective of class, caste and gender can develop to their full potential. It also aims at providing public service effectively, efficiently and equitably to the citizens as the core of good governance. Hence, good governance and citizens-centred administration are inextricably linked”

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Highlighting some of the strategies adopted by the Federal Government under the present administration to enhance citizens-centred technology governance including the issuance of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation and the subsequent establishment of a full-fledged bureau, the approval of the Presidential Council for Digital Economy and eGovernment, the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) and the accessibility of government services online, the Minister also disclosed that efforts are ongoing to expand the scope on both service rendition and delivery.

The minister while commending the giant strides made by Slovenia especially in the area of blockchain technology, noted that “a partnership between Slovenia and African countries would be a win-win situation and the conference is well poised to facilitate such collaborations”.

According to Spokesperson to the Minister, Uwa Sulaiman, the theme for this year’s conference is; Africa and Europe: Cooperation on Digital Transitions and New Technologies.

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