TECHDIGEST – The director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, has advised the National Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS) to use their talents to exploit the abundant opportunities to promote ICT innovation in the country.

Represented by Dr. Usman Gambo Abdullahi, director of IT Infrastructure Solution, Inuwa made the call when members of the Association visited the Agency’s corporate Headquarters in Abuja.

He said, as the apex IT regulatory body, saddled with the mandate of developing and regulating the use of IT in Nigeria, NITDA is always ready to deploy expertise to support any organisation that has the zeal of bringing ideas that will boost ICT and digital innovation in the country.

Inuwa disclosed that NITDA recently unveiled its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2021 – 2024 (SRAP), which was designed as a template to assist the Agency in achieving its target through the execution of the strategic pillars.

The DG, therefore, urged the Association to key into the programmes and initiatives enshrined in the SRAP in order to actualise their dreams.

He said, “It is optimistic that the Computer Students are willing to tap into the Agency’s collaborative mechanism through innovation and new ways of technology advancement, more especially as Nigerian youth can utilise the NITDA Virtual Academy which is currently training Nigerian youth on various IT courses.

Inuwa also assured NACOSS of NITDA’s commitment towards incorporating the Association into the Agency’s Digital Transformation and innovation activities to scale their target, and achieve their projects tagged “Campus Ambassadors Programme’’.

Earlier, the National president of NACOSS, Comrade Olaminiki Abolade said that the visit was to solicit the support of NITDA in actualizing the Association’s Innovation Challenge that will hold in all Universities across Nigeria.

The NACOSS President also used the opportunity to present the Association’s ”Campus Ambassadors Programme Award’’ to the NITDA DG in appreciation of his pledge to contribute to the actualization of their dreams.

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TECHDIGEST – The director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi, has restated the commitment of the federal government to implementing programmes to improve digital entrepreneurship and increase start-up businesses among the youth.

Abdullahi, said this during the opening of the National Innovation, Research and Software Summit (Innovation Challenge 2021) organised by the National Association of Computing Students (NACOS) in collaboration with the Financial Services Innovators (FSI) tagged “TechonDemand Hackathon”.

Speaking on the theme “Technology Renaissance For Innovation and Productivity” during the event held at the Nile University of Nigeria in Abuja, the NITDA boss encouraged the youth to make an impact by turning their innovations into products and services that can be commercialised.

“We have so many initiatives to help those with ideas to develop soft skills, to expose them to networks, to ecosystems, and access to funding. We want to challenge the Nigerian youth to come up with solutions to the problems of the country. This is the only way to create prosperity,” he said.

He said that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government through infrastructure and policies was diversifying the economy by creating the enabling environment for the youth to thrive in their software development and create indigenous content.

Abdullahi added that the agency was collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other agencies of government to get funds for the youth to develop their products, adding that they are working with universities to develop and build start-ups.

He said that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided a “golden opportunity for Nigerian youths to use technology to come up with new businesses, products and services”, adding that the NITDA Action Plan 2021-2024- has mapped out these strategies through its developmental initiative, which the youth can key into.

In his remarks, president of the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS), Professor Adesina Sodiya, noted that the NCS remains committed to promoting rapid national growth by providing necessary technical and professional support to technology providers.

Speaking earlier, the national president of NACOS Olamilekan Toyeeb Abolade, said the innovation challenge is to develop an interconnected, integrated, and all-inclusive ecosystem of the Nigerian citizens with the requisite services that enable individuals, retailers, small businesses to transact with one another seamlessly daily using digital channels.

“Our primary goal is to empower a new crop of innovative and creative young men and women, who will add technological value to every sector of the economy and solve real-life problems.

“We are geared towards building a generation of new technopreneurs, entrepreneurs, software developers, and an army of skilled and employable young people matching industry needs in priority sectors,” he said.

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