eNigeria 2017: Participants Make 11-Point Recommendations To Government

By peter oluka
To foster digital economy through local content development and regulation, participants at the just concluded eNigeria 2017, have recommended that the Government through NITDA and other stakeholders should continue to promote the required awareness on the need for MDAs to patronise indigenous IT products and services as well as the use of the .gov.ng domain for their websites in order to  support the national  e-government programme.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), an Agency of the Federal Ministry of Communications organized the 10 thedition of e-Nigeria Conference and Exhibition from Tuesday, 7th – Thursday, 9th November 2016 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. The theme of the Conference is ‘’Fostering Digital Economy through Local Content Development and Effective Regulations’’.

The eNigeria is Nigeria’s flagship international conference and Exhibition that brings stakeholders together in the IT industry to deliberate on emerging technologies, local innovation and relevant Information and Communication Technology (ICT) issues for the socio-economic development of the nation

The objectives of 2017 edition are to encourage indigenous ICT innovation management for national and economic development; position the nation to benefit from emerging technologies; articulate the imperatives of ICT for effective service delivery; outline a roadmap for national ICT skills development and identify entrepreneurial opportunities and regulatory challenges affecting Local Content promotion and adoption.

Raising from the Conference, the participants also recommended that all relevant Stakeholders in the ICT industry should as a matter of necessity engage the Federal Ministry of Justice  on the  promotion and use of technology in our judicial system;

“NITDA should continuously engage theFederal Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly for the review and strengthening of the NITDA Act through an executive amendment bill with more stringent punishment for violation of the NITDA Act or the regulations of NITDA.

“NITDA is urged to build strategic alliances aimed at ensuring that Nigeria domesticates and builds capacity in new and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Smart Technologies and the Internet of things (IOT) among others.

“All stakeholders are encouraged to partner with NITDA on the need to ensure compliance with the Executive Orders of Government and the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT 2013 for enhancement and guaranteed products and service delivery.

“The Federal Government through relevant stakeholders should ensure effective co-ordinationof health services based on an integrated national ehealth  database;

“Stakeholders should work out efficient and effective partnership with development partners for creation of access to affordable capital through a National ICT Innovation Fund;

“The Federal Government through NITDA should categorise all digital assets in all MDAs in the country to assist in identifying and evaluating the risk assessment and appraisal of how best to secure the assets;

“NITDA’s IT clearance role should be used to encourage patronage of indigenous  products especially by MDAs;

“NITDA should partner with Corporate Affairs Commission to ensure all local companies have a .ng domain whileNITDA IT clearance should be a prerequisite before BPP clears any IT project;

“That NITDAs role in the work of Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) should be strengthened as IT is central to ease of doing business;

“A national workshop should be organised to review all existing IT Regulations and Laws in order to ensure a robust legal framework for Local Content and IT development in Nigeria
The Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, NITDA  expressed his gratitude to all stakeholders and participants for the success of the 2017 eNigeria”.