NCC, NITDA to Boost Nigeria’s ICT

Fri, Aug 12, 2016
By publisher
3 MIN READ

Business Briefs

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THE Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, have agreed to set up a joint committee to design a framework for collaboration to optimise development of telecommunications and ICT in the country. This was a major outcome of the interactions between Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman, NCC, when Vincent Olagunju, acting director general, NITDA, and his team paid a courtesy visit.

Both agreed that a new era of interagency collaboration, especially within the sister ICT agencies would bring about desirable results, in line with global best practices. The Joint Committee, to be chaired by Agu Collins Agu, director at NITDA, is expected to provide detailed areas of collaboration and terms of reference, which will be initialled by the two organisations in due course.

Danbatta said the initiative would prove to the world that sister agencies in our clime can work together in the interest of the nation, and charged the committee members to work assiduously to ensure that the objective of the collaboration is realised. “We must concentrate on those things that we know that with the right investments and involvement of our human capital resources, we would realise things that we can show the world about the giant strides that are being made in this country, especially in the area of Information and Communications Technology.”

According to him, the agreement to collaborate remained consistent with the mandates of the two entities to ensure pervasive penetration of ICTs. “But we have to be mindful of the fact that, the more you introduce services, the more your burden the infrastructure on ground. I hope that the committee will take cognizance of what you need to do to address the existing capacity of infrastructure.

“What we are looking at is the progress we are steadily making by the day to ensure we reach the destination of what we call a networked society, a society that is e-driven, a society that is ICT driven, as well as a society that will be relying on the power and leveraging on ICT to conduct all kinds of businesses.”

According to Olatunji, there should be no rivalry in ways that the two organisations operate these days because it is all about common vision and common goals which are tied together for the future of our nation. “The information technology sub-sector, and the telecom sector, already work together now in their operations. If those of us at the helm of affairs that are driving the industry do not work together, we will not go far,” he said.

—  Aug 22, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT

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