TECHDIGEST – As digital technologies continue to change the world by transforming existing traditional processes to digital processes to enhance productivity, the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE, has re-emphasised the need to adopt digital transformation in order to succeed in accelerating the growth and modernisation of Nigeria’s economy and governance.

Inuwa said this at the Closing Ceremony of a 4-Day Capacity Building Programme on e-Government and Digital Transformation Programme for Permanent Secretaries and Directors in Kano State.

The DG, who was represented by Ag. Director, Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department of the Agency, Dr. Amina Sambo Magaji while underscoring the importance of the training said the agency as a forward-looking organisation is aware of the relevance of civil servants as the key to delivering government policies and programme.

READ ALSO: NITDA Formulates National e-Commerce Policy To Protect Online Business

According to him, digital transformation efforts of the government cannot be completed without actively involving the Civil Servants.

He further affirmed that the Federal Government of Nigeria is keen on digitalising its activities for which Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) are central to the implementation.

“To institutionalise the digitalisation programmes in MDAs, NITDA structured its Strategic Roadmap and Action plan (SRAP 2021-2024) towards the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS). We have the Digital Literacy and Skills as a strategic pillar to complement the National Digital Literacy Framework in achieving President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s target of 95% digital literacy by 2030”.

“We have supported so many state governments with digital tools and training, we are already collaborating and will always be willing to partner with stakeholders to support our e-Government Transformation, Digital Economy, Diversification and Sustainability Plan for the country”, he added.

While urging the participants to partake fully and transfer the knowledge gained at the end of the training to their staff who could not make it to the training, Inuwa pledged the agency’s unflinching determination towards achieving the actualization of 95% Digital Literacy by 2030.

The Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje who was represented by his Chief of Staff and Head of Service, Alhaji Usman Bala Mohammed, gave an overview of the Capacity Building Programme, affirming that the participants are staff drawn from MDAs of kano State.

He further explained that the training is timely, considering the fact that the world is rapidly changing from analog to digital.

“Upskilling Permanent Secretaries will help Kano State to catch up with the rest of the world in the areas of digitisation, technology adaptation and digital transformation programmes in the work place”, he said.

Governor Ganduje expressed his hope that the batches which has a number of 214 participants have learnt a lot and will utilise the knowledge gained to achieve the desired aim of the training

While commending the giant strides by NITDA in changing the narratives of Digital Economy in Nigeria and Africa at large, he gave assurances of maximum collaboration between the Kano State Government and NITDA in the coming days ahead.

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TECHDIGEST – The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi has identified digital media as a veritable platform to enhance National Security, saying it can be used to gather security intelligence, coordinate activities of security agents, promote social interaction amongst citizens and enhance social harmony.

The DG, represented by the Director IT Infrastructure Solutions, Dr. Usman Abdullahi Gambo, stated this in a virtual lecture on, “Impact of Digital Media on National Security “ at the Nigerian Army School of Public Relations and Information 2021 Media Workshop with the theme: “Enhancing Inter-Agency Collaboration in Internal Security Operations: Exploring the Public Relations and Media Perspectives”.

Inuwa stated that the importance of digital media to human interaction cannot be overemphasised, considering the huge benefits it had brought to several sectors of the economy, especially with the global impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

He said the benefits of IT sector remain one of the saving graces of the world when the whole world was on  lockdown.

Top digital media companies in the world like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and others recorded huge growth and profits while providing different digital services to humanity.

“The advent of digital media has transformed the way we receive and share contents and information, with significance impact on the way we transmit business and other social interactions.

“The ability to create, share and access digital contents without border has been a significant scientific breakthrough of the century.
Digital media has presented to us a double-edged sword.

“It has numerous opportunities and risks. Some of the opportunities include: ability to learn new skills outside the walls of classrooms; ability to communicate and express opinion without boundaries; collaboration and engagements; more opportunities for businesses without borders; provide platform for fast and real-time information; provide flexibility to the workforce by enabling out-of-office productivity; and facilitate creating online communities and groups”. He added.

The DG recounted that NITDA was established to implement the Nigerian National Information Technology Policy and coordinate general IT development in the country.

It was mandated by the National Information Technology Development Act (2007) to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria.

“The National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS) replaced the National IT Policy and was launched and unveiled by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on the 28th November 2019.

NDEPS provides a holistic and sustainable approach towards the development of our nation’s digital economy, which is based on the 8 pillars namely: Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Solid Infrastructure; Service Infrastructure; Digital Services Development and Promotion; Soft Infrastructure; Digital Society and Emerging Technologies; and Indigenous Content Development and Adoption,” he added.

Inuwa further said that in line with implementation of NDEPS, NITDA Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024 was launched and unveiled by Professor Isa Pantami, on the  April 19, 2021, as part of the Agency’s 20th Anniversary Celebration.

“The objectives of the Strategy are to, among others, articulate a new strategy for NITDA in accordance with the current aspirations of the Government, the realities of today and the demands of the future; to contribute its quota towards the implementation of NDEPS; and to implement programs that would facilitate the digital transformation of Nigeria.

“The strategy is anchored on seven pillars with their respective goals and objectives which are: Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Digital Transformation; Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Cybersecurity; Emerging Technologies; and Promotion of Indigenous Content.

“As part of Cybersecurity initiatives, the Agency established the Computer Emergency Readiness Response Team (CERRT) in response to the increase in the rate of cybercrime and in fulfilment of the requirement of the National Cybersecurity Strategy. NITDA-CERRT functions as a government CERRT, coordinating and facilitating information sharing, providing mitigation strategies and recommendations for the incident response and recovery, researching and analysing trends and patterns of incident activity for Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with extension to the private sector as well,” he said.

Inuwa added that the Agency has engaged in different strategic awareness campaigns and collaborative training on cybersecurity, with efforts to have a secured cyberspace for Nigerians, through cyber-monitoring centre that monitors, coordinate and support its constituency’s ICT infrastructure.

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TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) have forged an alliance that could enable Nigeria to benefit from the yearly $4.7 trillion exportation of digital service.
This alliance is in line with the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pillar of the NITDA’s 2021-2024 Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan recently launched.

This was made known during a press briefing hosted by Mr Segun Awolowo, the outgoing NEPC executive director, to commemorate the consolidation and partnership between the two organisations.

Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, NITDA director general, who was represented at the event by Dr Aristotle Onumo, the acting director, Corporate Planning and Strategy (CPS), said the partnership is aimed at facilitating the exportation of digital services adding that more partnerships of this nature from the public and private sectors would bring out synergy, exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing among them.

He emphasized that the digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pillar of SRAP enables NITDA to easily collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the exportation of indigenous services saying “It would not have been so for NITDA to collaborate with sister Agencies that have similar visions to drive digital economy to its rightful place in Nigeria.”

Awolowo, during his remarks, averred that the partnership has provided about N150 million support grant to innovation hubs across three geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

He said about 300 million in grants to support Start-ups that are exporting and have potential to export services in the Entertainment Tech, FinTech, EduTech and LogisticsTech sectors.

He stated that “We are also providing support to drive advocacy to ensure that Nigerian Start-up Bill is passed by the end of the year.”

He noted that due to the level of inter-agency collaboration between NITDA and NEPC, they have been able to attend to all areas of the services export ecosystem from regulatory challenges to access to market and finance, skills gaps, and most importantly digital infrastructure.

It could be recalled that some of the achievements of the partnership include the Outsource Nigeria Initiative, financial interventions for six Start-ups, support to three innovation hubs, setting up of skills acceleration centres and advocacy support for the Nigerian Start-up Bill.

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TECHDIGEST – Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, the director general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has disclosed the Agency’s desire to train over 10,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to enable seamless reintegration of Nigerian citizens who were displaced as a result of insecurity.

Inuwa made the disclosure recently while playing host to Imaan Sulaiman Ibrahim, Federal Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and IDPs (NCFRMI) at NITDA Headquarters in Abuja.

The DG said said training IDPs on Digital Literacy is part of the implementation of NITDA’s Strategic RoadMap and Action Plan, (SRAP 2021-2024) to enable a fast-growing digital economy for Nigerians.

“Education being an important identifiable tool of elevating poverty in the President Muhammed Buhari’s Administration has been actively employed by NITDA positively,” he said.

He noted that, “employing Digital Literacy and Skills strategy, one of the seven pillars of NITDA SRAP is inline with the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) which promotes the use of digital technology to expand and diversify Nigeria’s economy.”

“Following a methodological approach is necessary to achieve a SMART initiative. A combination of capable people, due process and deployment of adequate technology is required”, he said.

While explaining some of NITDA’s intervention projects, especially in capacity building, Inuwa noted that the Agency has continuously engaged in several trainings across the 6 geopolitical zones of the country with the use of different platforms like virtual trainings, online platforms, and physical trainings.

Inuwa in response to the request of the NCFRMI disclosed that NITDA is willing to support the commission with working tools and conduct IT trainings for its staff while also assuring the team of NITDA’s collaboration.

A Digital Transformation Technical Working Group (DTTWG) comprising members from both organisations would be set up to enable the execution of identified aspects for partnership he said.

Imaan Sulaiman Ibrahim, the NCFRMI Federal Commissioner in her remarks said that her organisation is seeking for collaboration in training, technical and tool support from NITDA to promote digital inclusion and national development.

Imaan noted that over 4 million Nigerians are internally displaced and the number is doubling up at an alarming rate, due to the natural disasters resulting from flood.

The Commissioner was optimistic that NITDA’s move to train teaming youths at the IDPs and persons of concerns would contribute to the diversification of the economy that will enable the elevation of 100 million people out of poverty in 10 years as projected by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration.

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TECHDIGEST – Digital entrepreneurship has been described as a crucial element necessary in ensuring sustainable digital economy because through innovations in technology, people have been able to shop and sell products online much faster, making life easier.

This was disclosed by the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi CCIE, while delivering a keynote address at a one-day action oriented roundtable/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.

Speaking on the topic, “Fast-tracking Digital Revolution in Nigeria through the Mandate of NITDA”, Abdullahi who was represented by his Special Assistant (Digital Transformation) Dr Aminu Lawal, stated that the rapid evolution of digital technology has made it possible for people to access information and has in turn, led to tremendous efficiency and effectiveness in work environment.

Abdullahi stated that NITDA has various initiatives that are geared towards digital entrepreneurship, citing Digital States Initiatives Programmes as an example.

He said NITDA has trained over 6000 youths on digital marketing, content creation, branding and many more, adding that other trainings were undertaken, including training People Living with Disabilities, Women in ICT and training artisans on mobile phone repairs which were all aimed at teaching them how to derive economic value from digital technologies.

He noted that in order to carry out its mandates and objectives as stipulated by the NITDA Act 2007, the Agency is 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.
The SRAP, according to the DG, is anchored on seven pillars with their respective goals and objectives namely, Developmental Regulation; Digital Literacy and Skills; Digital Transformation; Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship; Cybersecurity; Emerging Technologies and Promotion of Indigenous Content.

The DG noted the level of progress that has been made towards the realisation of the objectives and targets set in the roadmap that include; 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); 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); intensified efforts at 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 added that digital revolution has 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.

He opined that these changes have brought many benefits and have affected the way people consume and use information.

He averred that digital revolution has led to digitalization or digital transformation of processes as well as incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in virtually all aspects of our lives, which is also accelerating at a high pace.

“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”, he concluded.

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TECHDIGEST – Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of economic growth in any country and their ability to leverage technology drives efficiency and sustain stability.

This was the submission of the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, at the Abuja Enterprise Agency Entrepreneurial Complex in a keynote he delivered on; ‘Leveraging on Technology and Innovation for Enterprise Productivity’ at the 8th edition of Business 360 Clinics by the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA).

“SMEs provide cornerstones on which economic growth and stability of any country solidly depends. According to World Bank Report on finances, SMEs were pronounced to represent 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment globally,” said Abdullahi while stressing that innovation and entrepreneurship remained essential for long-term economic gains and prosperity.

According to the NITDA boss quoting a report by PriceWaterHouse Coopers, SMEs contribute 48% of the National GDP and account for 96% and 84% of businesses and employment respectively.

“SMEs are therefore key contributors to employment, economic and export growth to the Nigerian economy” he said.

Technology is a driving force to achieving success in business; increase revenue, reduce operational cost, customer service improvement, employee experience improvement and constant innovations all of which are important for enterprise productivity.

NITDA remains committed to supporting SMEs, said Abdullahi and stressed that NITDA through one of its subsidiaries have supported over 200 local startups that leverage on technology as tool for entrepreneurship.

His words: “You may be aware that, as part of our 20th Anniversary celebration, we launched and unveiled a four-year Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021 – 2024). One of the pillars of this roadmap, Pillar 4 – Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, has initiatives targeted at identifying and prioritizing areas of support for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in addition to strengthening the Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs) ecosystem – through the implementation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program (MIT-REAP).”

He said NITDA’s continuous commitment to supporting SMEs underscores the development of the Nigerian Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Start up Policy (NDIESP) which is in line with the Nigerian Digital Economic Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) aimed at boosting the economic growth and diversification of the country.

His words: “As an agency that is focused on issuing regulations that will positively impact the society and not stifle innovation or growth, we are keen on collaborating with relevant stakeholders to co-create regulations that will enable SMEs leverage digital technologies to contribute meaningfully towards economic prosperity”.

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TECHDIGEST – Two years have gone, and it was just like yesterday, President Muhammadu, GCFR, approved the appointment of Malam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, USA) – trained IT expert, as the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), following the elevation of the then Director General, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) FNCS, FBCS, FIIM, to the position of Minister of Communications, which was his ministry later re-designated to Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

With his appointment, it is heartwarming to note that growing corps of well-educated, world class technocrats are coming to the public domain to help change the narrative in public service.

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the current Director General of (NITDA, has equipped himself with leadership and management courses at Harvard University (USA) and IMD Business School, Switzerland before his appointment as DG, NITDA on 20th August, 2019. He is one of the growing numbers of leaders appointed by the present administration many Nigerians are proud of.

In these two years, Abdullahi proved to the world that he knows the ICT global terrain deeply and he is very aware of the challenges, limitations and constraints keeping Nigeria – a nation of about 200 million lagging behind in the evolving world of digital economy. Against all odds that face Nigeria’s IT sector, Kashifu has an indefatigable vision and passion to take the nation into the comity of nations running on digital economy.

Tough, it is a herculean task considering six month after his appointment, the entire world found itself fighting an invisible enemy – COVID-19, but that does not stop him from looking outside the box to find out the lasting solutions of the economic challenge posed by the deadly virus.
Abdullahi has already made it to a stage where he plays pivotal roles in Nigeria’s quest to be Africa’s largest digital economy. Since ascending leadership of NITDA, there has been a steady and impressive implementation of the Strategic Roadmap for the Development of Nigeria’s IT sector envisioned by Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Ibrahim (Kashifu’s predecessor at NITDA who is now Minister of Communication and Digital Economy), as well as implementation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s core vision of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) through Information Technology.

For Nigeria to effectively operate a digital economy, NITDA mapped out a Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2014), pillars identified by the Agency as the fulcrum for the Roadmap are: 1) Developmental Regulation; 2) Digital Literacy and Skills; 3) Digital Transformation; 4) Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship; 5) Cybersecurity; 6) Emerging Technologies and; 7) Promotion of Indigenous Content.

SRAP has been broken down into strategic initiatives that speak to its goal. The resultant initiatives were further fragmented into activities and an implementation plan which was in turn developed for these initiatives. Also, a result monitoring framework was developed for identified key performance indicators of each of the initiatives.

The Agency set out strategies to digitize government functions and processes and it successfully created over 150 user accounts to enable Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) submit their IT projects through the agency’s IT projects clearance portal, licensed of 94 Data Protection Compliance Organizations (DPCOs), and of Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture/Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (NGEa-Ne-GIF).

Under Kashifu’s watch, NITDA has developed several regulatory frameworks for information technology development, which most of them have been published both on soft copy and hard copy by the Agency.

The Standards, Guidelines and Frameworks developed by NITDA include: Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA); Public Private Partnership regulatory framework for ICT and eGovernment projects; Government Digital Service Framework (GDSFrame); National Block Chain Adoption Strategy Document; Nigeria Digital Agriculture Strategy (NDAS-2020-2030); Business Process Management Guide for Federal Public Institutions (FPIs); Management System Guidelines for Federal Public Institutions (FPIs); Government Digital Transformation Performance (Readiness) Assessment Toolkit (GDT-PAT); and eGovernment Masterplan and Digital Transformation for Jigawa, Nasarawa and Ogun States, to mention a few.

To drive these initiatives, the Agency set up an ICT Technical Working Groups in MDAs to enable the adoption of Ne-GIF, NGEA and other related initiatives to drive ICT, e-Government and made a mandatory ICT Capacity Building for staff of MDAs. It organised Capacity Building and Certification of 442 Digital Transformation Technical Working Group (DT-TWGs) members drawn from different Federal Public Institutions (FPIs).
Furthermore, during these two years, Kashifu continues from where his predecessor stopped in unfolding potential Nigerian farmers through Federal Government initiative of National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA), to change the face of agric sector in the country.

National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture is an ecosystem-driven digital platform envisioned for the transformation of the agriculture sector in Nigeria. It is designed to help farmers and other agricultural ecosystem players navigate their journey across the agriculture value chain. This journey cuts across farm production to management, processing, harvesting, storage, marketing and consumption. 565 farmers were trained and empowered with digital devices and N100, 000 seeds funding, which also created jobs direct and indirect jobs in the country.

NITDA also launched the National Adopted School for Smart Education (NASSE) to promote digital literacy and skills among students with 500 students and 30 teachers at Junior Secondary School Karshi benefited from the pilot scheme. The Agency supervised training of a total number of 1,858 Artisans across the 6 Geo-Political Zones on digital literacy and phone repairs.

The Agency also conducted training for 200 women on ICT and Entrepreneurship, each provided with Laptops (pre-installed e-learning & graphics Software), Internet Dongles & Bag-Packs, 1200 direct jobs and 3000 indirect jobs were created; it further graduated 300 Nigerians on Software, Mobile App & Web Development, and Entrepreneurship. People Living with Disabilities were also not left behind, as NITDA trained 30 and 52 persons in Kano and Enugu respectively, and laptops were giving to them as working tools.
In addition to making an effort in IT development as well as enhancing the IT capacity of the citizenry, hundreds of IT Hubs, IT Parks, and Community ICT Centres were either deployed, furnished or equipped with world class facilities across the states of the country.
On cybersecurity, NITDA conducted five (5) incidents analysis affecting National ICT infrastructure, handled 34 hacking of MDAs’ websites, 15 ENDSARS hacking attempts resolved, 10 defacement of MDAs’ websites handled, and dark web monitoring 15 incidents handled.
The Agency, under the supervision of its mother Ministry, launched NITDA Academy for Research and Training (NART) with 67 plus active courses, 58227 plus active students and 55,539 plus active training sessions.

To ensure Nigeria’s fool of talents was not left behind, the Agency Establishment National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotic (NCAIR), NITDA aims through NCAIR, to drive and support the research, development, and adoption of Emerging Technologies in Nigeria.
The Centre is creating the required environment for Nigeria’s teaming youths; encourage innovation and indigenisation of technologies to help address the continuous reliance on foreign products and services which has negative impact on the country’s economy. It serves as a bridge between the Government, industry, and the academia in providing research environment for creativity, idea integration, collaborative environment, development of ICT policies, processes and strategies.
As a result of Kashifu’s commitment, Nigeria made history when it received Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), during the handover ceremony of Root Certification Authority (RCA) for Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA) and Country Verification Certification Authority (CVCA) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
With the strategy already in place, the Agency has succeeded in programming, developing and mapping out digital process to cushion the effect of Coronavirus since it is outbreak globally; Nigeria COVID19 Innovation Challenge, an online innovation challenge that was set up to meet the challenges our society was, and still facing as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. Developers, entrepreneurs and other creative minds joined to experiment and build software solutions to help address this crisis, received overwhelming applicants in Nigeria.
Though, considering the vast technology expertise possessed by the DG, Nigerians always ask why Kashifu Inuwa has such intellectual prowess which makes him an extraordinary Chief Executive in discharging his duties in the last two years as Director General, NITDA.

Mubarak writes from Abuja

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TECH DIGEST – The outcome of any ideation, roadmap and strategy is turning the vision into a reality.

This requires facilitation and engagement of action plan to ensure everyone understands their contribution to high impact goals and what they can do to achieve it together – working even asynchronously. The development of a four-year Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan has therefore become an integral process of operation in National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

The aim of NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2021-2024 (SRAP) is to give direction to the initiatives of the Agency and realign its operations towards new vision; “to proactively facilitate the development of Nigeria into a sustainable digital economy”.

The plan involves an evaluation of the previous plan, a visioning process to refocus the Agency along the lines of the government policies, current state of the IT industry, future trends, and current aspirations of the citizenry and the general intendment of government.
It may be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, mandated the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and all its parastatals to facilitate the use of digital technology to expand and diversify Nigeria’s economy. At the Ministry, this is a task that must be achieved by refocusing efforts on facilitating the adoption of digital technologies.

To execute the Presidential mandate, Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami) directed all parastatals in the Ministry to develop strategies, programs and initiatives to ensure the attainment of the expected gains of expanding the digital space in Nigeria. Part of the expectations is for the Parastatals to develop individual strategies in line with relevant institutional mandates and goals of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) to achieve a Digital Nigeria

NITDA, in following the directive of the Honourable Minister has strategically aligned its plan for the next four years with the visionary thinking behind the NDEPS. The new vision of NITDA is to articulate continuous improvement introduced by the then Director General, now Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

Therefore, for NITDA to remain relevant as IT regulator in the country, and the role it has been playing in the IT industry, it must align with the current trends and cultures of digitalization. The vision is a strategic response to the re-designation of the Ministry and the expansion of its mandate to include the transformation of the country into a digital economy.

The Agency adjusts and realigns its internal structures in a manner that would support the new vision and help to drive its attainment.

That is why NITDA is undergoing a restructuring process that has seen the redefinition of departmental functions and the refocusing of the operational mandate of some departments.

The restructuring is to specifically tailor operations towards key aspects of SRAP while at the same time improving the efficiency and effectiveness of internal operations and governance.

The restructuring process has also seen the creation of a new department of digital economy in compliance with the directive of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, and in accordance with the Agency’s new vision.

The NITDA Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) for 2021-2024 has been inspired by the vision of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).

The NDEPS, which was developed to reposition the Nigerian economy in order to take advantage of the many opportunities that digital technologies provide, is based on 8-pillars for the acceleration of the National Digital Economy. These pillars align with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan and its successor Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan of the Federal Government as well as the priorities assigned to the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

In developing SRAP 2021 – 2024, some policies of Government and public documents were consulted. These policies and documents include the NDEPS, Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), Tech4COVID Committee Report, National Broadband Plan, Cybersecurity Policy, National eGovernment Master Plan, NITDA Act, amongst others.

These documents were collated to get right direction of the government on pertinent issues of the digital economy and nation building.
SRAP is being drive by three-pronged objectives, which are:

To articulate a new strategy for NITDA in consonance with the current aspirations of Government, the realities of today and the demands of the future;

To contribute its quota towards the implementation of NDEPS especially within the framework of its mandate and;

To implement programs that would facilitate the digital transformation of Nigeria.

In developing the new strategy for NITDA, certain considerations were made.

In terms of alignment, consideration was given to the NDEPS and its vision of transforming Nigeria into a leading digital economy. Other considerations include the grey areas that must be addressed in transforming Nigeria’s Digital Economy; the need to have SMART objectives and the importance of having an implementation structure that will ensure the successful implementation of the strategy.

The overall strategy was based on the seven strategic pillars and their respective objectives. Other components of the strategy include implementable and granular initiatives that were created with relevant key performance indicators (KPIs). This will ensure that the progress of the achievements of the goals of these pillars is properly measured, evaluated and monitored. It will also help in identifying and addressing issues that may be associated with the implementation of the roadmap.

The seven strategic pillars identified by the Agency as the fulcrum for the Roadmap are:

1) Developmental Regulation;

2) Digital Literacy and Skills;

3) Digital Transformation;

4) Digital Innovation & Entrepreneurship;

5) Cybersecurity;

6) Emerging Technologies and;

7) Promotion of Indigenous Content.

Consequently, the above pillars have been listed in line with the arrangement of the NDEPS pillars; each of the pillars has been broken down into strategic initiatives that speak to its goal. The resultant initiatives were further fragmented into activities and an implementation plan was in turn developed for these initiatives. Also, a results monitoring framework was developed for identified key performance indicators of each of the initiatives.
Developmental Regulations
To create an enabling environment, through frameworks, standards, guidelines, and regulatory instruments that unlocks opportunities in the digital economy across all sectors.

Digital Literacy and Skills

To intervene in the development of digital technology by supporting, promoting and facilitating digital skills and literacy programs through the development and adoption of digital literacy standards for Nigeria.

Digital Transformation

To assess, evaluate and advise on the use of digital technology anchored on the transformation of government processes and services by leveraging on digital technologies.

Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Create an ecosystem for Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDE) and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to thrive.
Cybersecurity

To strengthen the cyberspace and reduce vulnerabilities exploitable by threat actors.
Emerging Technologies

Facilitate the adoption and adaptation of emerging technologies in Nigeria, and determine critical areas in Information Technology that requires research, intervention and development.
Promotion of Indigenous Content
To create opportunities and enabling framework for the development and adoption of homegrown innovation for a digital economy.

Similarly, SRAP introduces dynamism to project implementation through the workstream approach of project delivery. This approach reinforces internal collaboration with a view to fostering external cooperation. NITDA believes that with new approach, the implementation of the various initiatives will be properly coordinated, communicated and concluded thereby ensuring that the goal of achieving a sustainable digital economy as well as contributing to the creation of jobs for our teeming youths is achieved.

Mubarak writes from Abuja

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TECH DIGEST – In April, Africa’s leading Information Technology (IT) industry regulator, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) unveiled its new Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021 – 2024) to accelerate Nigeria’s digital economy.

The launch of the SRAP document marked the highpoint of activities organised to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the agency.

It is anchored on the goals and objectives of NITDA’s seven strategic pillars, consisting of Developmental Regulation, Digital Literacy and Skills, Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Promotion of Indigenous Content, Digital Transformation, Cybersecurity, and Emerging Technologies.

Those seven strategic pillars are aligned with the mandate of the agency and in conformity with the vision of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) to reposition the Nigerian economy to harness digital technologies and their vast opportunities.

To ensure the successful implementation of the digital economy, the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Promotion of Indigenous Content pillars mandate the agency to create opportunities for the development of indigenous digital technologies and solutions in software, hardware and services.

Again, it is responsible for enabling the environment for the indigenous manufacturing of internationally standardised IT components to serve domestic needs, generate jobs, prosperity, and exports to boost foreign earnings.
In its commitment to sensitising the tech ecosystem on the provisions of the SRAP document, the agency has taken the step of reaching out to stakeholders to carry them along on the strategic four-year journey to strengthening the Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDEs).

This was demonstrated through a coordinated three-day advocacy visit to Lagos of the Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, who used the opportunity to meet and interface with stakeholders in various areas of the innovative ecosystem within that jurisdiction.

Within three eventful days, Kashifu, from May 19 to 21, had a meeting with Lagos-based private sector players specialised in Fintech, software development, service/solution providers, and other stakeholders. They exchanged ideas on issues of regulation, infrastructure, the national economy, and sustainable growth.
Prior to the stakeholders’ forum, the NITDA helmsman paid a courtesy visit to the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the government house, where he received commendation for the revolutionary work the agency is doing to develop the digital economy.

The governor also outlined some smart projects that the State is embarking upon, which include the proposed building of the biggest technology hub in Yaba, the establishment of the Science, Research Innovation Council in Lagos, the Unified Fibre Duct project, the free WiFi for public schools and institutions, among many other projects.

Presenting the SRAP to the governor, Kashifu explained that the document would help to unlock the digital economy potentials of Lagos State and transform it into the centre of digital excellence, since the State hosts the largest number of indigenous software developers, ICT hardware manufacturers and consultancy service providers.

He visited some tech innovation companies such as Rack Centre, AfriOne, MainOne MDXi and Venture Garden Group and urged government and private organisations to patronise indigenous startups in order to help position Nigeria as a leading player in the global digital economy.

Under the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the SRAP clearly points to the importance NITDA attaches to holding of periodic IT stakeholder engagement with all the players in the sector including the media. This enables it to stay informed about the activities of the ecosystem for effective bonding.

Engaging with stakeholders is crucial to any organisation because it provides a platform for pooling knowledge, experience and expertise, and a shared understanding to co-create solutions, thereby building collaborative partnerships that generate value.

Regular stakeholder engagement would allow ideas to constantly flow between the private sector and the government. Such data would guide the government in the formulation of appropriate policy guidelines and regulations to ensure stability in the sector.

In addition, it establishes a sustainable communication platform that has the capacity to build trust between the regulator (government-related entities) and the startups to gain easy access to infrastructure, capital, and other resources for the uninterrupted flow of innovation.
The tour of Lagos by the NITDA DG did not only generated a buzz in the industry, but it also offered a great opportunity for the agency to review its relationship with the view to bridge any gap and keep all channels of communication open for effective exchange of information.

In fact, it is imperative that this stakeholder engagement initiative be sustained to encourage and drive startups to pool resources and create hubs within their localities to help boost the expansion of the tech innovation ecosystem across the states of the federation.

In conclusion, the innovative visitor would have been exposed to certain shortcomings/oversight on the part of his agency. Such anomalies have to be addressed before embarking on the next stakeholder engagement to other sections of the country.

Inyene Ibanga is Managing Editor Techdigest.ng and writes from Wuye District, Abuja.

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TECH DIGEST – The transformative impact of digital technologies is steadily flowing into other sectors of Nigeria’s economy. Information Technology (IT) has unarguably become the lead driver of sustainable economic diversification.
Stakeholders in the IT sector are focused on expanding the digital space for the economic wellbeing of citizens. But, of course, the journey into a stable digital economy has only just begun to gather steam.

This reality came into sharp focus after President Muhammadu Buhari approved the re-designation of the Ministry of Communications as Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy in October 2019.

Following its rebranding, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, became the arrowhead of the Digital Nigeria project, under the leadership of Dr. Isa Pantami.

Together with its parastatals/agencies, the Ministry commenced the development of strategies, programmes, and initiatives to actualise a seamless transition to a digital economy.

As such, the IT sector dazzled with a brilliant line-up of events and activities during the outgoing month of April. Corporate and individual players came out in large numbers to identify with and recognise the apex IT agency in Nigeria.

It was double celebration for National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
First, the agency marked the 20 years of its inception on April 18, 2001.

Secondly, it joined the rest of the international community to commemorate the 2021 World Creativity and Innovation Day on April 21.

The 20 years anniversary celebrations suffused the entire physical and digital environments. Different events were staged to assess its overall performance in the development and regulation of the IT sector.

NITDA used the milestone celebration to unveil its Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024) to provide direction to the agency’s ever-evolving vision for transforming Nigeria into a flourishing digital economy.

The SRAP 2021-2024 document is in alignment with the vision of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), earlier developed to enable the Nigerian economy to exploit the abundant growth opportunities that digital technologies offer.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami noted that he had directed all parastatals in the Ministry to develop strategies, programmes and initiatives to ensure the attainment of the expected gains of expanding the digital space in Nigeria.

Pantami expressed confidence that the implementation of the SRAP 2021-2024 would expand Nigeria’s digital economy and create opportunities locally and across the globe.

“I am happy that NITDA has taken the bold step of mapping 2021 to 2024 strategy to the presidential mandate and ministerial directive. The implementation of the NITDA strategy will deepen Nigeria’s economy digitally, diversify the economy, promote innovation and lift millions out of poverty”,  the minister said.

Other critical government policies consulted to ensure the SRAP document had a solid basis of strategy are the National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, Cybersecurity Policy, the National Broadband Action Plan, and the NITDA Act.

The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa said the roadmap was meant to articulate a new strategy for the agency in accordance with the current aspirations of the government, the realities of today and the demands of the future, in order to implement programmes that would facilitate the digital transformation of Nigeria.

Imbued with SMART objectives and a robust implementation structure to ensure the successful execution of the new strategy, the SRAP 2021-2024 document is also based on the seven pillars providing goals and initiatives to drive the attainment of the desired goals and impact.

These are developmental regulation, digital literacy, and skills, digital transformation, innovation and entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, and the promotion of indigenous content.

The seven pillars are geared to foster dynamic regulatory instruments to unlock opportunities across different sectors of the economy, facilitate the development of digital skills of Nigerians across different works of life,  as well as support the goal of achieving a 95 per cent digital literacy level in the next ten years.

Additionally, the pillars would engender a robust digital platform to drive digitalisation processes in the digital economy, enable innovation-driven enterprises and micro, and small and medium enterprises to thrive thereby creating opportunities for job creation.

The new strategy document demands that the agency adjusts and realigns its internal structures to support the new vision and help to drive its attainment. And it is focused on facilitating a rapid transformation of the digital economy through consistent and extensive stakeholder collaborations.

Having notched up two decades of modest achievement in the digital space, NITDA has to sustain the tempo by ensuring vigorous implementation of its core mandate, while also keeping the focus on successful attainment of the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan within the next couple of years.

To this end, all stakeholders, particularly the supervising ministry, must seek creative approaches to providing the necessary support for NITDA and the other parastatals to drive the Digital Nigeria project and build a strong digital economy where every citizen can thrive.

Inyene Ibanga is Managing Director of Techdigest.ng  and writes from Wuye District, Abuja.

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