The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications, Mr Musa Istifanus has pointed out that open data enhances transparency in governance and this can help mobilise citizens to participate in governance positively.
He stated this during Nigeria Open Data Conference for the North West Zone which has the theme, ‘Harnessing Public Data Assets for Economic Recovery and Growth’ organised by the Ministry of Communications at the Tahir Guest Palace, Kano state.
The PS stated that the ministry has developed a draft open data policy and action plan that will enhance the releases of certain data assets across different categories of economic sectors in the country.
“open data is an integral part of the global data revolution. It is a programme through which countries manage their data assets as a national resource to create an innovative economy for jobs, service delivery and to promote economic growth. This, they do by making available, through online platform non-sensitive data to citizens and other stakeholders in reusable, machine readable formats for planning and economic decisions making.”
Earlier, director (ICT), Ahmed Musa Jubril, who represented the Kano state commissioner for Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, stated the initiative would open up non-sensitive public data assets to promote a new ICT- powered data industry.
