The
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has warned Federal Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as other government establishments on
the need to seek clearance from the agency before embarking on any Information
Technology (IT) project, reports ITRealms.
Director
General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NITDA, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami,
who gave this warning in Abuja, cited Section 6 of the NITDA Act 2007, as well
as Service-wide Circular from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of
the Federation which makes the agency a clearing house for all IT procurement in
the public sector.
He
pointed out that the objectives of the clearance exercise include to ensure transparency
in IT procurement by MDAs and other government establishments; alignment of IT projects/investments
with MDAs and other government establishments’ mandates and functions as well
as government IT shared vision and policy; and integration of IT systems and
services to save costs, promote shared services, interoperability and improve
efficiency.
In
addition, he said, the objectives comprised that there is indigenous capacity
for after-sales-service to sustain the project beyond the initial deployment; that
the project promotes indigenous content and that preference is given to
indigenous companies where capacity or the product or service exists; that the
technology being implemented is up-to-date; and that the technology and
services being procured are suitable for the country from the point of view of
security and the environment, among others.
He
emphasized that this will see to the realization of IT as a major driver and
enabler of policies and national development plans; learning, knowledge and
experience sharing on IT projects among MDAs; and the availability of accurate
statistics on Federal Government’s IT assets and Investments to help government
make informed IT decisions.
“The
realization that government’s investments in IT over the years were not
commensurate with the value derived from such investments and had also failed
to evolve a digitally-enabled public service that will advance the citizens’
yearnings of digital economy made it necessary for strategic re-positioning of
IT procurement in the public sector,” Pantami said.
Chuks Egbune with Doris Minimah/GEE
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