Wednesday, August 10, 2016

FG Sets up Committee to Fast track ICT Development

TWO federal government agencies, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, has set up a joint committee for the development of Information and Communication (ICT) in the country.

The committee is expected to design a framework for collaboration to optimise development efforts for the telecommunications and ICT in the country.
The decision to set up the committee was reached at an interactions between the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar  Garba Danbatta and the Acting Director-General of NITDA, Dr. Vincent Olagunju, when the NITDA boss and his top management team paid a courtesy visit to the NCC headquarters in Abuja.

 Both executive agreed that a new era of inter-agency collaboration, especially within the sister ICT agencies would bring about desirable results, in line with global best practices.

The Joint committee, which is to be chaired by Dr. Agu Collins Agu, a director at NITDA, is expected to provide detailed areas ofcollaboration and terms of reference, which will be initiated by the two organisations in due course.

Commenting on the development, Danbatta said the initiative will prove to the world that sister agencies in our clime can work together in the interest of the nation, and charged the committee members to work assiduously to ensure that the objective of the collaboration is realized.

“We must concentrate on those things that we know that with the right investments and involvement of our  human capital resources, we would realize things that we can show the world about the giant strides that are being made in this country, especially in the area of Information and Communications Technology”, he said.

According to Danbatta, the agreement to collaborate is consistent with the mandates of the two entities to ensure pervasive penetration of ICTs noting, “But we have to be mindful of the fact that, the more you introduce services, the more your burden the infrastructure on ground. I hope that you (committee) will take cognizance of what you need to do to address the existing capacity of infrastructure.”

He added, “What we are looking at is the progress we are steadily making by the day to ensure we reach the destination of what we call a networked society, a society that is e-driven, a society that is ICT driven, as well as a society that will be relying on the power and leveraging on ICT to conduct all kinds of businesses.”

The NITDA boss, Olatunji, said that there should be no rivalry in the ways that the two organisations operate these days because it is all about  common vision and  common goals which are tied together for the future of our nation.

“The Information Technology sub-sector, and the telecom sector, already work together now in their operations.  If those of us at the helm of affairs that are driving the industry do not work together, we will not go far”, he said.
Olatunji said the disposition of the NCC head in arriving at setting up the committee has demonstrated the quality of leadership he has brought to bear in the sector. 

He listed a number of major events being hosted by NITDA in Nigeria, and in Dubai to which the NCC has accepted to support NITDA, and also participate fully with the development agency in line with the new direction in collaboration

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