NCC, NITDA to Energise Nigeria’s ICT Development

Mon, Aug 8, 2016
By publisher
3 MIN READ

BREAKING NEWS, Business

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The Nigerian Communications Commission and the National Information Technology Development Agency collaborate to boost the information, communications and technology sector in Nigeria

NIGERIA’s Information, Communications and Technology, ICT, sector received another boost with the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, agreeing to set up a joint committee to energise the sector.

The committee will to design a framework to enable to two institutions collaborate to optimise development efforts for the telecommunications and ICT in the country.

This was a major outcome of the interactions between the Professor Umar Garba Danbatta, executive vice chairman of the NCC, when Vincent Olagunju, acting director general of NITDA, and his team paid a courtesy visit to the NCC headquarters in Abuja, at the weekend. 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, chaired by Agu Collins Agu, a director at NITDA, is expected to provide detailed areas of collaboration and terms of reference, which will be initialed by the two organisations in due course. Professor 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”, he said.

According to Danbatta, the agreement to collaborate is 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 you (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”, he said.

Also, Olatunji said that 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.

Olatunji said the disposition of Danbatta in setting up this committee demonstrated the quality of leadership he has brought to bear in the sector.

During the visit, Olatunji listed a number of major events being hosted by NITDA in Nigeria, and in Dubai to which the NCC has accepted to support NITDA, and also participate fully with the development agency in line with the new direction in collaboration.

— Aug. 8, 2016 @ 12:30 GMT

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