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THE National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, has urged tertiary institutions in the country to change their conventional methods of learning and embrace developing technological skills required in the ICT industry. Kashifu Inuwa, director-general, NITDA, said the educational system needed to change the conventional way of teaching and the way of do things.
Inuwa made the call when he received Abdullahi Ahmad, Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa State in Abuja. He said: “Polytechnics are strategic institutions that serve as the engine room for technological development aimed at creating jobs and revenue generation flow across the country.
“There is a need to reengineer the skills and tools being used to suit the current trend of technologies like Artificial Intelligence, AI, Blockchain technology, cloud, edge computing and other related technologies. We need to create an economy for the ecosystem to develop the needs and wants of the society,’’ he said.
Inuwa revealed that the National Information Technology Development Fund Scheme, NITDEF, an initiative of the agency, which sponsors individuals abroad to study in various IT related fields had been put on hold to enable NITDA to engage more meaningfully.
According to him, engaging meaningfully is to enable more investments in human skills the acquisition which will directly or indirectly create jobs across the country bringing about revenue flow. He added that they had been doing a lot in the areas of IT intervention in institutions across the country, which is aimed at building the knowledge and capacities of individuals across the country.
He commended the institution for reaching out to NITDA, adding that the process would deepen IT among students of the institution and the country at large. The director-general said that the agency would be willing to work with the institution to achieve mandates.
Earlier, Abdullahi Ahmad, Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa State, appealed for the agency’s support in human capacity building and IT infrastructural development, which has shown contributions to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP. “Our desire as an institution is to become a reference point in terms of ICT infrastructure and standard training facilities that can adequately cater for the staff and students of the institution,” he said.
Ahmad notified NITDA that the current management of the Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa State has deployed a lot of resources in the provision of computer laboratories, upgrading of some facilities and initiating new projects. He, however, decried that the inflow of students and continued professionalism of the staff made it difficult to reach the level of adequacy and sufficiency.
– Nov. 6, 2020 @ 14:49 GMT |
Tags: NITDA wants tertiary institutions to develop technological skills
