Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has reiterated the need for collaboration that would bring about the best solutions from ideas, experiences, insights, and shared knowledge needed for the country’s development.
This is said to be in consonance with the Information Technology (IT) sector regulatory agency’s roadmap to forge strategic partnerships and collaborations with stakeholders to advance Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
Inuwa said this while playing host to the participants of the 2024 Senior Executive Course 46 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, near Jos, in Plateau State, who were on a strategic tour to understudy the agency’s operations on the advancement of the digital economy in line with the present administration’s Renewed Hope agenda.
NewMailNG reports NITDA disclosed this to Brigadier General Abdulrahman Idris, who led the visiting team to the agency’s Corporate Headquarters, in Abuja, FCT.
Inuwa asserted that no organisation could achieve its goals and objectives in isolation, stating, “We need to collaborate with other institutions to learn and share ideas that will impact the lives of citizens, improving the living standards of individuals across the country.”
The Director-General of NITDA also highlighted that collaboration between NITDA and NIPSS would highlight the importance of leveraging technology and digital innovation to drive economic growth and create more job opportunities for citizens, attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into the country.
“At NITDA, we started by re-imagining and reinventing our social contract with Nigerians and the ecosystem, which led to the change of the Agency’s mission and vision to improve service delivery and the swift growth of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. We need to ensure that our core values reflect our willingness to discharge our duties and we exist to serve Nigerians,” he stated.
On insights into NITDA’s strategic direction, Inuwa mentioned the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2024-2027) 2.0, structured around eight pillars, which include Fostering Digital Literacy and Cultivating Talents, Building a Robust Technology Research Ecosystem, Strengthening Policy Implementation and Legal Frameworks, and Promoting Inclusive Access to Digital Infrastructure and Services.
He mentioned others as Enhancing Cybersecurity and Digital Trust, Nurturing an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Forging Strategic Partnerships and Collaborations, and Cultivating a Vibrant Organisational Culture with an Agile Workforce.
Earlier in his remarks, Brigadier General Idris mentioned that NIPSS was established by Decree number 20 of 1979, now Cap N-51 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He said the Institute was conceived as a high-level institution with the primary objectives of serving as the nation’s foremost policy think-tank and developing a crop of top-class technocrats of high intellectual capacity, who will conceptualise and anchor the implementation of innovative and dynamic policy initiatives and strategies that are critical for national development.
Idris added that the institution, since its inception, has graduated 45 courses that support government institutions in the implementation of policies for national development.
“The administration of President Bola Ahmmed Tinubu has tasked the institutions with the mandate to address some issues of national interest around the digital economy sector, and NITDA is one of the critical stakeholders in the sector, and this has informed our visit,’’ added the leader of the delegation.
