NITDA to restrategise IT policy for WSIS outcome

Remmy Nweke in Tunis

Beyond WSIS, Nigeria is planning to re-orientate its stakeholders for implementation of outcome.

Head, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) liaison office in Lagos and officer-in-charge of the Nigeria’s pavilion at the on-going second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS-05), Mr. Vincent Olatunji, has said the nation would through the agency restrategise its Information Technology (IT) policy to ensure implementation according to the outcome of the summit.

Nigeria's IT Policy
NITDA is the parastatal of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology overseeing the implementation of Nigeria’s IT policy which came into being since 2001.

Mr. Olatunji said that what his agency is trying to do is to act as catalyst by working closely with stakeholders in view of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development in the country.

Collaboration
He also said that NITDA has been in close contact with the Ministry of Communications, even as there is a national committee on WSIS.

“What you are seeing at this pavilion is what we are trying to showcase as part of revolution happening in this area of ICT and that is what we are telling the whole world at WSIS” he declared.

He pointed out that the issue of ICT involves all stakeholders’ collaboration, hence NITDA is planning to restrategise by ways of getting stakeholders together at end of this summit to know who is doing what currently.

“We would also allocate duties to every organization among the stakeholders, both those in the private and public sectors respectively,” he said.

Only Nigerian company @ WSIS
Also speaking, the General Manager of Omatek Computers Limited, the only Nigerian firm at the stand, Mr. Yomi Soyinka, tasked government to ensure continuous improvement on the enabling environment.

This, he said, would pave the way towards making Nigerian products compatible with foreign brands.

Stressing that why his firm is showcasing at WSIS-05 is to let delegates from other countries of the world know what efforts are being made by Nigerian firms towards bridging the divide and to enable them rank side-by-side with notable products in the world.