As the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector continues to grow at faster pace, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says the industry has the potentials of contributing 15 per cent from the current 9.8 per cent.
To achieve this, the need for collaboration will be strengthened, NITDA would be exploring seven key areas for development.
According to Ibrahim Pantami, Director General, NITDA, he said, there are seven key areas the ICT industry must get right if in order to achieve 15 percent GDP contribution.
He said: These include regulation; capacity building; local content development & promotion; digital job creation; government digital service promotion; cyber security; and revenue generation.
Speaking at a forum where NITDA got a ‘Special Recognition Award’ from the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) at the 2016 National Information Technology Merit Awards (NITMA), Pantami reiterated that the agency will focus on its core regulatory mandate.
He disclosed that since assumption of office, he has been working strategically with the management and the entire staff towards transforming NITDA from an administrative outlook to IT-Driven agency, and from an unnecessary contract awarding to a knowledge-based agency.
“The act of developing the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry in a society as diverse and complex as ours is quite tasking.
He said, however, the potential benefits of developing such a critical sector of our economy far outweigh whatever challenges such a process may entail.
He said, a well-developed IT sector will significantly improve our economy. It will reduce capital flight, create jobs, generate revenue and help to position Nigeria as an IT hub for the region.
“As we join hands to develop the sector, I wish to request your support in the following seven key areas:
Regulation; capacity building; local content development & promotion; digital job creation; government digital service promotion; cyber security; and revenue generation.”
He said, considering the wide scope of NITDA’s mandate and the need to channel limited resources appropriately; they have identified these seven areas as areas of priority.
“We will give a renewed emphasis to regulation and will ensure that we develop standards and guidelines for different aspects of the IT sector, he concluded.
