Devt: Pantami tasks stakeholders on ICT use

 

The Director – General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has called on stakeholders and captains in the industry to use ICT to foster and sustain national development.
The DG made this call while delivering the keynote address at the just concluded Beacon of Information and Communication Technology (BoICT) Awards held on Saturday at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island Lagos.
Dr. Pantami who was represented by the Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations Unit of NITDA, Hajiya Hadiza Umar, said, “as a country we expend vast sums to deploy ICT solutions both in the public and the private sectors but some of these projects are not sustainable because the main parts of the project are deployed and sustained by foreign partners.
He added that the Executive Orders #3 and #5 and the NITDA Local Content Guidelines aim to check this.
However, “It is important that the ICT industry supports the implementation of these Orders and Guidelines as they are the surest way of building our institutions and developing the ICT sector of our dear nation.
He said the theme of the event, ‘Leveraging ICT Value for Building Institutions’, aligns well with the growing movement to use ICT to foster sustainable development in institutions.
H stressed that the theme is echoed in both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the federal government.
Pantami further stated that, “accountable, inclusive, effective and smart institutions are necessary to achieve the SDGs, whether the goal is quality education, zero hunger, improved healthcare, economic growth or innovation.
Citing example with an average smartphone which can have as many as 10 sensors. And with about 144 million active mobile lines in Nigeria, a sizable portion of which are smartphones, potentially giving us access to large volumes of data.
“With Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics, such data can be translated into actionable insights that would lead to sustainable development in the country,” he said.
While urging captains of industries in the ICT sector to support ICT capacity building efforts both within their institutions and within the ICT Startup ecosystem, he stressed that the future of the ICT industry depends on it.

 

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