Nigeria To Fast Track ICT Integration Into Economic Development
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy Mr. Musa Istifanus has said that government is making efforts to fully integrate ICTs into the socio-economic development of Nigeria in order to transform the country into a knowledge-based economy.
He stated this at the opening ceremony of the 7th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Communications and Digital Economy with the theme “Leveraging the gain of ICTs in Developing and Implementing Digital Economy Strategy in Nigeria” in Gombe State.
The Permanent Secretary stated that connectivity, capacity building and inter-agency collaboration, are key factors that will bridge the digital divide and enhance technology development across the nation.
In his words, “the policy thrusts of the Ministry clearly articulate government’s intent in a number of thematic areas amongst which are local content development, ICT Research, Development and Innovation, Investment and Funding, inter agency cooperation in ICT Hardware production, Universal access and service Internet and broadband”
He pointed out that society has realized the gains of ICTs and government is committed to utilizing these possibilities with new policies interventions that would be required to address global challenges in areas such as digital economy and local challenges of societal cohesion, escalating healthcare costs, aging society and life-style change.
Istifanus said, “new technologies (devices, mobility) and technology capabilities (interoperability, security, data analytics) offer new ways to make this achievable. The society is moving towards transparency and openness. There are initiatives to increase the engagement with the citizen, attract usage, develop increased levels of thrust, and improve the service delivery. ICT offers the best platform to achieve this”.
He urged the participants to take advantage of the many sessions at the meeting to come up with resolutions to address challenges in the present-day realities and take advantage of the networking opportunities available to forge strategic partnership towards realizing the vision of a new Nigeria.
Earlier, the Gombe State Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Aishatu Umar Maigari thanked the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy for choosing the state to host the 2019 council meeting in Gombe State.
