… As NITDA emerges MDA of the Year @BoICT’18
The Director General of
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim
Pantami, has said that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is
panacea to sustaining national development, reports ITRealms.
This is coming as NITDA emerged the NITDA emerged
the Government Agency of the Year, while it’s Director General/CEO Isa Ali
Ibrahim Pantami was proclaimed the Public Sector CEO of the Year, at the just concluded
Beacon of Information and Communication Technology (BoICT) Awards held on
Saturday at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island Lagos.
Dr Pantami, represented by
the Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations Unit of NITDA, Hajiya
Hadiza Umar, said in a keynote address that, the theme, ‘Leveraging ICT Value
for Building Institutions’, aligns well with the
growing movement to use ICT to foster sustainable development in institutions.
This theme, he said, is echoed in both
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Economic
Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the Federal Government.
“Accountable, inclusive, effective and
smart institutions are necessary to achieve the SDGs, whether the goal is
quality education, zero hunger, improved healthcare, economic growth or
innovation. All the goals are to be driven by institutions and ICT provides a ready
tool to attain these goals,” Pantami said.
He revealed that Nigerians, institutions
and indeed the nation can experience a high level of sustainable development through
the effective use of ICT, stressing that “data is the new oil and organisations
can now use data to create wealth”
Citing example with an average
smartphone which he said, could have as many as 10 sensors. And with about 144
million active mobile lines in Nigeria, a sizable portion of which are
smartphones, potentially giving us access to large volumes of data. With
Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics, such data can be translated
into actionable insights for that would lead to sustainable development in the
country, he noted.
While urging captains of industries in
the ICT sector to support ICT capacity building efforts both within their
institutions and within the ICT Startup ecosystem, he stressed that the future
of the ICT industry depends on it.
He
added that, “as a country we expend vast sums to deploy ICT solutions both in
the public and the private sectors but some of these projects are not
sustainable because the main parts of the project are deployed and sustained by
foreign partners. The Executive Orders #3 and #5 and the NITDA Local Content
Guidelines aim to check this. It is important that the ICT industry supports
the implementation of these Orders and Guidelines as they are the surest way of
building our institutions and developing the ICT sector of our dear nation.”
The climax of the event witnessed honours of awards to
deserving institutions, organisations and individuals who were voted online by
ICT stakeholders and the general public. NITDA emerged the Government Agency of the
Year while it’s Director General/CEO Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami is the Public Sector
CEO of the Year.
The event has in attendance Dr Leo Stan Ekeh,
Founder/Chairman, Zinox Group and Chairman of the occasion; former NCC, EVC Dr
Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman, Open Media Group; Femi Adeoti, Managing Director Inlaks;
Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director Rack Centre; Ike Nnamani, President/ CEO of
Medallion Communications Limited; Mr
Olusola Teniola, President, Association
of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria(ATCON) among others.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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