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Tag: NITDA

  • ICT clearance saves Fed Govt N30b, says NITDA

    The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Dr Isa Ali Pantami yesterday said the agency has, through its information communication technology (ICT) project clearance initiative, saved the Federal Government over N30 billion.

    Addressing reporters in Abuja yesterday, Pantami said the time has come for the country to take advantage of the opportunities in the ICT sector considering her population, geographical location in Africa and youth population.

    He said in the last two years, ICT clearance alone for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government has saved the nation of over N30 billion.

    Dr Pantami who said the feat was achieved through cost alignment of ICT products, assured that more would be achieved for the country as NITDA has outlined seven key areas in which the objectives and goals of the administration would be anchored.

    He said NITDA within the past two years has established 86 digital capacity building facilities across the country as well as 80 digital jobs creation centres in addition to setting up 8 wide area networks and 8 virtual libraries in designated higher institutions.

  • FG Inaugurates NITDA, NIPOST, NIGCOMSAT Boards

    FG Inaugurates NITDA, NIPOST, NIGCOMSAT Boards

    The Federal Government Wednesday inaugurated the Management Boards of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, and the Nigerian Communications Satellite, NIGCOMSAT.

    The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu who inaugurated the 36 member board of the agencies at Obasanjo Hall, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, urged them to justify the confidence repose in them by the Buhari administration by turning around the fortunes of the agencies for the better.

    Shittu said the performances of the agencies are critical to the committment of the present administration to move the economy from oil and gas paradigm to the development of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

    Government efforts, he said, have started yielding results as more than 10 percent of the nation’s GDP comes from the sector.

    Said the Minister: “The ICT sector is one of the key pillars of the Nigerian economy contributing more than 10% of the GDP. The sector has great potentials for contributing significantly to Nigeria’s economic recovery and Growth through economic diversification, creating opportunities for social inclusion, job creation and youth empowerment, improving human capital and facilitating economic competitiveness.

    “It has been suggested that the Devices, Software Solution and e-Commerce sector alone could employ well over 45 million Nigerians and rake in significant revenue.

    “The major challenges to the sector have been lack of an integrated framework for coordinated development, inadequate infrastructure leading to low access of Nigerians to the benefits of ICT, poor local content in the ICT industry, inadequate investments in the sector and low Capacity including lack of globally competitive skills.”

    According to the Minister, the agencies would be restructured in line with the vision of the present administration to enable them maximize their goals, pointing out that government would ensure that the enabling laws backing their operations are also fine-tuned and updated.

    Shittu said government is currently embarking on the upgrading of ICT infrastructures to ensure that they are capable meeting the challenges of modern economy.

    The Minister said: “Increased ICT infrastructure will also help to solidify national security, strengthen sovereignty and promote good governance.  We are well on our way there with the kind of infrastructural investments that we envisage including regional fibre –optic links and metro rings.

    “Recently, the Federal Executive Council approved the implementation of the National ICT Infrastructure Backbone II project.

    “Considering the large youth population in Nigeria, one of the most critical success factors for ICT sector development is the issue of skills development. However, Skills issues remain a major constraint to employment of Nigerians in the sector.

    “Employers in the sector are increasingly finding it difficult to source for emerging 3rd platform technologies such as cloud, mobility, security and big data/Analytics which is where the world is going now.

    “Considering the large youth population in the country, we will work with the Ministry of Education to integrate ICT effectively into education curricular through the use of ICT to facilitate education using smart devices, e-Content as well as increase the uptake of ICT as a subject”.

    Read Also: NITDA, NCC partner to grow GDP

  • NITDA insists on registering, licensing IT contractors

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) yesterday insisted on registering and licensing information technology (IT) contractors despite opposition to the move by the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS).

    It said it agreed with NCS position that the Computer Professionals (Registration Council) of Nigeria as a Council is mandated to have control and supervision of the (Computing) profession as provided by Section 1(2) of the Computer Professionals (Registration council of Nigeria) Act.

    It said the registration of IT contractors and service providers by NITDA is in line with NITDA’s mandate as specifically stated in  Section 6 (a,f) NITDA Act 2007,  which  mandates it to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardisation, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of IT practices, activities and systems in Nigeria. It is also to render advisory services on all IT matters to the public and private sectors.

    “Therefore, it is within the regulatory and developmental role of NITDA to ensure that IT contractual practices and project delivery in the public sector are done in accordance with best practices, within acceptable standards and in the interest of the development of IT in Nigeria.

     

     

  • NITDA warns MDAs over .gov.ng domain name

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it has observed disregard for the use of .gov.ng domain by government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in the transaction of government business despite previous directive to comply.

    Its Director General/Chief Executive Officer, Dr Isa Pantami, said to ensure strict compliance with the agency’s directive by ensuring that all government business transactions are strictly carried out on the country code Top Level Domain of the Nigerian government (ccTLD.ng).  measures have been put in place to ensure that all government MDAs (federal, state, and local government) operate within the .gov.ng.

    According to him, the measures include ensuring that all requests for .gov.ng domain are verified and approved within 24hours, provided all conditions are met;  provision of a special purpose 24/7 mobile phone number (+2348140504418) for responses to enquiries and technical support; regular evaluation of government websites in collaboration with relevant agencies of the government; and blacklisting of all MDA sites running on Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD), other than the .gov.ng.

    He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the NITDA, a Federal Government agency tasked with the implementation of the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordination of general IT development and regulation in the country. Section 6(l) of the NITDA Act mandates that NITDA renders advisory services in all Information Technology matters to the public and private sectors. NITDA is also mandated to ensure Internet governance and supervision of the management of the country code top-level domain (cctld.ng) on behalf of all Nigerians.”

     

  • Nigeria saves 20 Billion naira monthly on payroll system – Buhari

    Nigeria saves 20 Billion naira monthly on payroll system – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said about 20 billion naira is being saved on monthly basis from the introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) as well as the Bank Verification Number (BVN).

    According to the President the initiative has not only led to the elimination of the manace of ghost workers from the nation’s public sector, but helped to entrench transparency and accountability within the system.

    He also said through the policy on Treasury Single Account (TSA), the present administration has “so far consolidated over 20,000 accounts, resulting into about N4.7 billion monthly savings.”

    President Buhari made the remarks while declaring open a three-day eNigeria Conference with the theme “Fostering Digital Economy through Local Content Development and Effective Regulations” organized by the National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    Highlighting some of the achievements of his administration since inception with a particular reference to anti-corruption crusade, President Buhari said his administration leveraged on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) platform to institute about 31 reforms within the system, stressing that the reforms would no doubt bring the desired change to the way and manner the business of government is carried out in the country.

    Read Also: Lawyer to Buhari: tackle corruption in high places

    President Buhari who was accompanied by top government officials to the event among whom were the Ministers of Communications and FCT, Adebayo Shittu and Alhaji Musa Bello, the Chairman Senate Committee on ICT, Senator Kabiru Gaya and the Director General of NITDA, Dr Isa Pantami Ibrahim, maintained that ICT remains strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy.

    His words: ”   My presence here today is a demonstration of our commitment and strong belief in using ICT as a major driver of our developmental governance and economic reform plans aimed at bringing about the true CHANGE we promised our people.

    “ICT is strategic in driving productivity and efficiency in all sectors of the economy. Currently, almost all sectors of our economy leverage on ICT to increase efficiency, productivity and performance.

    “The sector has recorded huge investments and contributes over 10% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and we are making conscious efforts to see that this contribution continues to grow in the next few years.

    “About 80% of ICT hardware purchases are imported through local distributors of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) by MDAs and other government establishments.   This makes it difficult for us to benefit from the dividends of continuous procurement and consumption of ICT infrastructure and limited value retention within the country.

    “As the most populous country in Africa, there are huge opportunities for ICT manufacturing in Nigeria. This, when harnessed, will provide job opportunities for our teaming youths, enhance the quality of  locally produced infrastructure, reduce cost of acquisition and  increase government revenue.

    “There is, therefore, the need for deliberate efforts, both from government as well as the private sector to see to the realisation of this.

    “I urge you to come up with viable recommendations on how we can make the country an export hub for ICT hardware in Africa.   We have done a lot to transform our government especially in the areas of strategy, policies and digital infrastructure investments”.

    The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu in his address said ICT has being a major driver of the nation’s economy since the inception of the present administration, noting that the sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has moved from 5 percent to 12 percent by 2016.

    Shittu maintained that through legislation , the present government wuld ensure that local ICT industries are protected, while lamenting the low patronage of local industries even by government agencies.

    According to Shittu the federal government has issued series of guidelines to protect the ICT industry and prevent Nigeria from becoming a dumping ground for all manner of ICT products and services, but enjoined all stakeholders to partner with the government to ensure sanity in the entire sector.

    The Director General of NITDA,  said the yearly eNigeria Conference was being organized by his agency to take stocks of development in the ICT industry with a view ensure effective regulation, job creation, improvement in services and products of ICT by local companies and ensure the security of the nation’s cyber system.

  • EFCC probing NITDA’s 2017 contract awards, says minister

    EFCC probing NITDA’s 2017 contract awards, says minister

    Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu has revealed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was already investigating allegations of impropriety in award of some contracts by the National Information Technology and Development Agency (NITDA).

    He spoke while fielding questions on Ibadan-based Fresh FM radio programme, Political Circuit, at the weekend.

    The minister said the Federal Government would await the outcome of the investigation on the petition written against the NITDA management over its spending of the 2017 budget estimates to know the next step to take on the matter.

    Kaduna-based Good Governance and Accountability Monitoring Group (GGAMG) had, in a September 27 petition, accused the Director General of NITDA, Dr. Isa Pantami of flouting  the Procurement Act with an alleged  grand plan to cede the entire NITDA budget for the year 2017 to a certain company (Galaxy Blackbone).

    The group argued that the decision could affect the nation’s economy going by the quantum of the contract.

    Shittu said: “Before I received the letter, the case was with EFCC. I was merely copied. Since that is done, it is not in my power to investigate alleged criminality. I think we should look up to EFCC on that matter.

    “Of course, NITDA has also responded and gave me a copy of its response but I don’t have the prerogative power to investigate. If the matter had not gone to EFCC, I would have set up a committee to look into it. But let me sound this note of warning; on a matter of contracts, so many people get used when they are not succeeding in getting what they want in the processes.

    “I am not saying people in NITDA or other government agencies are saint or angels but you have to look at the two ways deeply. At my level, I wish EFCC, to whom the original petition was address take it up and take a decision and report appropriately,” Shittu maintained.

  • MDAs: Don’t execute projects without clearance

    MDAs: Don’t execute projects without clearance

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) yesterday caustioned  federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as other government establishments against  executing Information Technology (IT) projects without getting its clearance.

    It said it is in line with Section 6 of the NITDA Act, 2007 as well as service-wide circular from the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation which makes the Agency the clearing house for all IT procurement in the public sector.

    Its Director General/CEO, Dr Ibrahim Pantami, said: “We are therefore calling on MDAs and other government establishments to ensure that their IT projects in the 2017 Appropriation Act are put forward for clearance before implementation.

    “It should be noted that a breach of the provision of NITDA Act and any other directive pursuant to the Act is an offence under Section 17 and punishable under Section 18 of the Act.”

    It said the objectives of the clearance exercise are to ensure transparency in IT procurement by MDAs and other government establishments; alignment of IT projects/investments with MDAs and other government establishments’ mandates and functions as well as government IT shared vision and policy; and integration of IT systems and services to save costs, promote shared services, interoperability and improve efficiency.

    Another is  to ensure that there is indigenous capacity for after-sales-service to sustain the project beyond the initial deployment.

     

  • Justice for abandoned 2016 NITDA scholars

    Justice for abandoned 2016 NITDA scholars

    ir: It was on a bright Sunday afternoon, October 2, 2016 that I received a congratulatory email from National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, confirming that I was successful in the rigorous scholarship aptitude test I wrote on Wednesday September 28, 2016, 9am at Public Service Institute (PSIN) Dutsen Alhaji, Abuja. I was elated by the great news and my hope for continuing my studies up to the postgraduate level was revived.

    That was my first time of visiting Abuja.

    Afterwards,  me and my fellow colleagues representing their respective states and geo-political zones were invited for a one-on-one interview and credentials-sighting which did not hold on the said day due to the change in administration of the agency; we were told to go back home and they assured us that they will contact us.

    Days passed, weeks went by and months elapsed and none of us received any correspondence from NITDA. Some of us – the scholars decided to follow up and inquire about the situation by contacting notable staffs of NITDA.

    When we contacted them earlier this year, we were sweet talked and they kept assuring us that they haven’t forgotten us that they were doing all that was necessary. We were once told that the reason for the delay was because they were negotiating with international institutions for our admission. This rekindled our spirits and we kept our hopes alive. Later on they said they had to wait for the passage of the budget before we will be officially contacted.

    We waited, and after the budget was passed, we once again contacted NITDA, but this time around they said their fiscal year was different from that of the country that theirs would commence August. We continued contacting them but they resorted into complicated tactics in a bid to side-line us.

    In the advertisement, it was stated that the scholarship would be local which we fully understood before we rolled in our applications (although the reason for the change to local seemed unbecoming).  We were also aware that the country was in recession. But it can’t be so bad that a nation won’t be able to provide scholarship to absorb its own citizens into its own institutions.

    After wasting about a year, our country decided to forsake us. They sent us a termination letter yesterday, Thursday September 6, after we have waited for almost a year.

    Why plan for 2017/2018 exercise when you are yet to clear the 2016/2017 scholars? This is beyond logic. This is not the change we voted for. If the agency cannot fulfil its overseas promises, they should at least fulfil what we bargained for when we applied for the scholarship.

    We seek justice.

     

    • Tunji Afolabi

    atunje_afolabi@yahoo.com

  • NITDA to sanction breach of local content policy

    Regulator of the information technology sector, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said it is ready to implement local content policy in the sector as contained in the executive orders signed by the Federal Government.

    Its Director-General, Dr Ibrahim Pantami, who spoke on the sidelines of the StarUp Nigeria, a pitching event for tech startups in the country in Lagos, said pursuant to the implementation of the policy, he has met with all the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the country with a view to ascertaining capacity and quality required to meet huge population of the country.

    He said the startup forum which was organised by the Office of ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), a department in NITDA, was to identify and promote innovative ideas by youths to develop the IT ecosystem and create job opportunities.

    He said implementation of the policy has been a problem in the past but said the executive orders of the presidency makes the implementation imperative. He added that a new approach is also being explored.

    Pantami said: “Implementation is a problem but it should not be for one person. We are doing our best as a federal government agency and we are urged to encourage or rather enforce local content or national content/indigenous content in ICT. The efforts we are putting place now is not like before. That is one. The effort now is to encouraging because we took it upon ourselves that we are going round MDAs, checking online, reviewing their budget, notifying them that whenever they intend to execute any project, local content must be patronized and those that we identify as defaulters, we write to notify them officially like we recently wrote a letter to the Bank of Industry (BoI) when it purchased some apps for m-power. We asked them to put on hold and we called their attention to that. We have also done that to many organisations and agencies.

    “Whenever our attention is drawn to that, we notify them.  They must put it on hold and if they fail to do that, the next action will be taken because that executive order is from the Presidency and it will reported back to the Presidency.”

  • Complaints against ISPs, OEMs, others flood NITDA

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said its office has been inundated with complaints from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), other government establishments, the organised private sector (OPS) and individual consumers of information technology (IT) goods and services about the poor quality of services being rendered by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and others.

    Other service providers that have been reported to the agency include electronic or e-commerce platforms, software vendors, IT enabled service providers such as financial technology service providers (FTSPs), payment terminal service providers (PTSPs), payment solutions service providers (PSSPs), Business Process Outsourcing Service Providers (BPOSPs) and other IT goods and service providers.

    Its Director General/CEO, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, lamented that an assessment carried out by the agency confirmed that such complaints were largely genuine, adding that while NITDA is working with critical stakeholders to ensure an excellent working environment for both indigenous and foreign IT goods and service providers, the agency is also making efforts to ensure that Nigerians are satisfied with IT goods and services consumed.

    He said the agency would do all it could to enforce the rights of consumers who are being underserved by the substandard services they receive from such providers.

    He said: “The poor quality of some IT goods and services is adversely affecting the economy. Some businesses have had to pack up as the value derived from IT was not commensurate with IT investments. Additionally, some MDAs have been repeating expenses on IT goods and services in every budget year because of the poor quality of earlier purchased software and hardware. This has constituted an unsustainable drain on the nation’s resources.

    “We are, therefore, calling on both indigenous and foreign IT goods and service providers to pay attention to quality and customer satisfaction. Terms of licence acquisition, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and contracts with clients and customers must be strictly adhered to. The Agency is setting mechanism in place to monitor compliance and would facilitate the blacklisting perennial defaulters, prosecute them and ensure remedy for consumers.”

    NITDA is an agency under the Federal Ministry of Communications created to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and co-ordinate general IT development and regulation in the country.

    Specifically, Section 6(a & c) of the Act mandates NITDA to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardisation, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria; and render advisory services in all information technology matters to the public and private sectors.