NITDA to get advisory committee soon

FEDERAL Government would soon inaugurate a National Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Advisory Committee of stakeholders under the auspices of the National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner Isoun, disclosed this in his address to the first-ever Financial Internet Technology (FINTEX-2005) expo, which began in Lagos Monday.

ITrealms gathered that Prof. Isoun, who was represented at the occasion by the newly appointed Director-General (DG) of NITDA, Prof. Cleopas Officer Angaye, said the committee is to advise government on policy and technical issues in ICT development in the country.

He also said at the two-day event, that the government has instituted the Nigerian Cyber Security Initiative (NCI) to aid the government efforts in ensuring that critical infrastructure are secured.

NCI, he explained is implemented under the auspices of the Nigerian Cyber Crime Working Group (NCWG).

According to him, government has realised two key responsibility which include the computerisation of the public sector and providing the enabling environment through adequate legislation against unlawful online activities.

Government services, he said, must be put online and made easily accessible to the populace, which ultimately would afford communication networks between government and citizens, citizens to government, government to business, business to government as well as government to government and business to business communication.

"That is the whole purpose of our e-government initiative," he declared.

Stressing that it would provide a standardised platform on which ICT applications and solutions will run, and through which governments will be put online.

"The intent and hopefully the effect, would be to achieve a smaller, people-friendly, citizen-centered, transparent, responsive and accountable government," the minister said.