Politics
THE Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, on Thursday called for technology workforce to enhance digital transformation in the public sector.
Tijani made the call at a one-day event titled “Talent, Technology and Transformation” organised by DevsInGovernment in collaboration with Galaxy Backbone in Abuja.
DevsInGovernment is a community of technologists and tech enthusiasts in the Nigerian civil service.
The minister described the event as an avenue where Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government engage in discussions, share insights and collaboratively contribute to the digital processes in the public sector.
“Technology is something that we all can not do without and it is the same way that we believe that we have to use technology in our everyday life.
“So, government must also use technology to transform the public sector.
“President Bola Tinubu has given us the mandate to ensure that we make government services more efficient and accessible through the use of technology.
“But the reality is that we cannot do that without technology workforce. We need people who understand how to build technology how to maintain it, to be able to achieve that objective.”
According to the minister, the essence of this event is to bring technologists under one umbrella with the aim to empower them and get them to share their challenges, successes and experiences.
He added that from there, they would accomplish the goals of transforming public sector through the use of technology.
According to him, the ministry will set up a dedicated hub for technologists to come up with new ideas, build ideas and ensure they get support from the government.
This, minister said, was a way of encouraging innovation in the public sector.
Also, speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Faruk Yabo, said people needed an enabling environment in terms of policies or regulatory frameworks to achieve development in various sectors.
Yabo, who spoke in a panel session, said that in June, the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation became the first ministry to be fully digitised.
According to him, every work in that office today is actually paperless, from the mails to the last point.
“So, you also need the enabling environment in terms of the policies or regulatory frameworks. Without that, you may not be able to achieve development in very wide sectors.
“You need the networks, you need the computing power and of course, you need the devices and skill manpower.
“You cannot move, if there are no ideas, that is why the meeting today is very important.
“You need to set up platform like this where people can get together and eventually evolve into enterpreneurship.
“All these can’t happen without investment, capital and so on. And indeed, collaboration both within and outside.
“I think this is just to set the context of what you actually need in the wider context to be able to do digital transformation.”
In his remarks, the Acting Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone, Abdul-Malik Suleiman said creating communities of professionals who share ideas and purpose was fundamental to the success of digital transformation.
Suleiman lauded the minister for setting up the community of professionals who would be drivers of technology in the 21st century within the public sector.
He said DevsInGovernment would provide a platform for IT professionals to go through these different stages of learning in order to create transformative public service.(NAN)
T.S
-February 2, 2024 @ 8:01 GMT|
Tags: Dr Bosun Tijani
