The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NITDA

  • NITDA seeks EFCC’s partnership to tackle IT fraud by MDAs

    THE National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) have collaborated  to strengthen anti-graft war, especially on the procurement of Information Technology (IT) products and service among the Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.

    Its Director-General, Dr. Isa Pantami, who spoke when he led the agengy’s management team to EFCC Headquarter in Abuja, said the alliance has become imperative in the face of wanton corruption being perpetrated by MDAs, especially in the procurement of IT products and services as most of the projects pass through less scrutiny during budget defence at the National Assembly because of the expertise required to ascertain the needs and specifications of IT requirements.

    “Many MDAs consider IT projects  as conduit pipes to siphon public funds and I believe partnering EFCC will bring sanity to the sector and by then the commission will be empowering NITDA in strengthening its regulatory function through which it will also be developing  and promoting the local content in the IT sector,” the NITDA chief said.

    Dr Pantami said the two organisations could form a working group, which would also serve as a desk to deal with sharp practices in the IT procurement, adding that the EFCC may help in asking MDAs to produce procurement clearance issued by the NITDA in the course of investigations.

    The NITDA,  as IT regulatory body in the country, he said,  is responsible for subjecting IT product to value-for-money analysis, reduce projects duplication, justify the spending of public funds on IT projects and advise MDAs on the alternative options of IT products and service with a view of reducing cost, especially on sharing of software among themselves.

    To Pantami, the alliance would strengthen existing relationship between the two organisations, adding that “supporting NITDA would go a long way in blocking loopholes in IT procurements”.

    He commended the EFCC’s Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, for his doggedness, fearlessness and outstanding performance, which he displayed in acting capacity, saying the feat could take some people 20 years to achieve as substantive chairman of the commission.

    Pantami said Nigeria needs fearless people like Magu who do not think of the consequences of their action to move forward as a nation

    Magu assured Pantami that the EFCC would accede to NITDA’s request so as to bring some level of sanity to the procurement of IT products and services among MDAs in the country.

    He described the partnership as timely, especially now that the Commission is in the process of completely digitalising its operation, adding that he will consult with the NITDA on IT projects under investigations.

    Describing corruption as a threat to the unity of Nigeria, Magu said the Commission cannot fight corruption alone without the consensus of all, urging the citizens not to lose hope because of corruption case judgments delivered in courts.

    Magu said the cause of agitations from different quarters in the country today is because of corruption that has ravaged the nation. “Absolutely there is a political will to fight corruption and this is not in doubt. This is the time to save this country from the shackles of corruption,” he said.

  • NITDA, EFCC forge alliance, tighten noose on IT procurement racketeers

    NITDA, EFCC forge alliance, tighten noose on IT procurement racketeers

    National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) have forged an alliance in order to strengthen the anti-corruption war especially on the procurement of Information Technology, (IT) products and service among the Ministries, Department and Agencies of the Federal Government.

    Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, the director general of NITDA, disclosed this on Tuesday when he led the management team of the Agency on a working visit to  EFCC Headquarter in Abuja.

    Pantami stated that the alliance has become imperative in the face of the wanton corruption being perpetrated by MDAs especially in the procurement of IT products and services as most of the projects pass through less scrutiny during budget defense at National Assembly because of the expertise required to ascertain the needs and specifications of these IT requirements.

    “Many MDAs consider IT projects  as conduit pipes to siphon public funds and I believe partnering with EFCC will bring sanity to the sector and by then the commission will be empowering NITDA in strengthening its regulatory function through which it will also be developing  and promoting the local content in the IT sector,” the NITDA boss said.

    While suggesting the modus operandi of the partnership, Dr Pantami informed that the two organisations could form a working group which would also serve as a desk to deal with sharp practices in the IT procurement, adding that, “EFCC may help in asking MDAs to produce procurement clearance issued by NITDA during their investigations.

    He said NITDA as IT regulatory body in the country, the Agency is responsible for subjecting IT product to value-for-money analysis, reduce projects duplication, justify the spending of public funds on IT projects and to advise MDAs on the alternative options of IT products and service with a view of reducing cost especially on sharing of software among themselves.

    The DG who believed that the alliance would strengthen the existing relationship between the Agency and the Commission said: “supporting NITDA would go a long way in blocking loopholes in IT procurements.”

    In a press release signed by Hadiza Umar, head, Corporate Affairs & External Relations at NITDA, she said the DG commended the EFCC’s Acting chairman for his doggedness, fearlessness and outstanding performance which he has recorded in acting capacity saying the feat could take some people 20 years to achieve as substantive chairman of the commission.

    While assuring him of his prayers and goodwill, Dr Pantami stated that Nigeria needs people like Mr Magu who are fearless and do not think of the consequences of their action to move forward as a nation

    In his remarks, Mr Ibrahim Magu, the acting chairman of the Commission, who expressed his delight over the visit said that  EFCC as Commission “would be complying with NITDA’s request so as to bring some level of sanity to the procurement of IT products and services among MDAs in Nigeria.

    He described the partnership as timely especially now that the Commission is on the process of “completely digitalizing the operation of EFCC” adding that he now has place in NITDA to run to when he gets confused on  IT projects under investigations.

    Describing corruption as a threat to the unity of Nigeria, the EFCC boss maintained that the Commission cannot fight corruption alone without the consensus of all Nigerians, he pleaded to Nigerians not to  be discouraged on the recent corruption case judgments delivered recently

    Mr Magu stated that the cause of agitations from different quarters in the country today is because of corruptions that has ravaged the nation. “Absolutely there is a political will to fight corruption and this is not in doubt. This is the time to save this country from the shackles of corruption,” he added

    The two organisations agreed to nominate three officials each to constitute the working group and the desk with the term of reference of verifying the IT products and services to be procured with public funds.

  • Local content policy will reduce software import – NITDA

    Local content policy will reduce software import – NITDA

    The Local Content policy of the Federal Government on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) would reduce the importation of ICT software into the country, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said.

    The Director-General of the agency, Dr. Isah Ibrahim, stated this in Abuja at the 2017 international Day of girls in ICT organized by Veritrax Solutions.

    Ibrahim, who was represented by Assistant Director, Information Technology Infrastructure Solutions, Engr. Salisu Kaka, said the agency has made it compulsory for contractors to ensure that at least the computer systems they buy are from local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Nigeria.

    He said: “In 2013 there was the local content policy passed by the federal government on ICT and NITDA being the regulator has quickly established office of the national content on ICT (ONC).

    “This office is saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that at least 30 per cent of whatever we consume locally or within the country there is local component of it, that is from the hardware to the software aspect of it.

    “We made it compulsory for contractors to ensure that at least the computer systems they buy are from our local original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).”

    He said the agency has created the enabling environment that would allow genderless communities at different levels to have equal opportunities in terms of digital divide.

     

  • We will support young ICT innovators – NITDA

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it would continue to support young innovators and Information Communication Technology (ICT) entrepreneurs in the country.

    The Director-General of the Agency, Dr. Isa Pantami, stated this while addressing journalists at an event in Kaduna on Friday.

    NITDA collaborated with a start-up firm, the Office for ICT Innovation Entrepreneurship (OIIE) to organise the one-day event.

    Pantami said the goal of the event was to identify young talents and innovators in ICT and those who had ideas that need the agency’s support.

    “That is why we usually organise the event once in a while to make sure we identify our young innovators and entrepreneurs,” Pantami said.

    “To see how the agency will support them to realise their dreams.

    “After this, there is going to be screening to identify those whose ideas are very important and effective.

    “We will continue to monitor the talents in order to support and even assist them to build their ideas into a system.

    “And we will even sponsor them to international events to compete with other start-ups.”

    NAN

     

  • FG Panel raises alarm over loss of 90 billion naira to cyber crimes

    FG Panel raises alarm over loss of 90 billion naira to cyber crimes

    A Federal Government Panel on National Cyber Security has raised the alarm over persistent cyber security threats and internet hackings across the country, saying that the country has been losing 90 billion naira every year to cyber crimes since 2014.

    At its inauguaral meeting in Abuja, the panel which comprises of representatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, the Federal Ministry of Communications, Nigeria Postal Service, NIPOST, NigComSat, Nigeria Computer Society, and CS2 called for concerted efforts to arrest the situation.

    The panel also known as the inter-ministerial Technical Committee on the implementation of the National Cyber security Strategy insisted that pro-active measures should be taken to address the problem.

    A statement endorsed by the Head of Corporate Affairs of NITDA, Mrs Hadiza Umar noted that the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami urged the panel to urgently address the misuse and abuse of access to the tools of Information Technology,

    Pantami stated that, “these Information Technological tools that have become vital in our critical activities are also avenues adopted by individuals and groups to carry out a range of malicious activities” adding that these threats could be targeted at national critical infrastructures, government/private institutions or individuals.

    “Today, information assets are very valuable and various sectors of the Nigerian government have come to rely on technological tools to carry out their processes both critical and non-critical. Financial services, Telecommunications, Navigation systems, Manufacturing Sector, Oil and Gas, Power and Energy, Food and Agriculture, Emergency Services, Public Healthcare, Water and Waste Management Systems amongst others now strongly rely on digital systems networks”, he said.

    The NITDA boss further disclosed that research findings indicate that “out of about 97 million internet users in Nigeria, 14% suffer cyber-attacks. In 2013, global payment giant, paypal.com disclosed that Nigerians lost about 159 billion naira to cyber security threats and more worrisome is the fact that since 2014, the country has been losing approximately 90 billion naira to cybercrime and in December 2015.”

    ” Nigeria was the 17th most attached nation in the world based on threat intelligence drawn from Check Point Software Technologies. Office of the National Security adviser (ONSA) recently disclosed that of the 2,175 Nigerian websites hacked in 2015, 585 were government owned”, he added.

    The scale and dimension of these threats according to Dr Pantami has compelled the Agency to develop and implement a new cyber security strategy for the Federal Civil and Public Service Sector with the approval of the Minister of Communications.

    He called for continuous collaborative efforts as information security is not a one – off programme, as according to him the threat landscape keeps changing.

  • NITDA promotes 16 startups at GITEX

    The  National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said Nigeria is participating at this year’s GITEX Technology fiesta in Dubai with 16 startup firms’ to showcase the potential of the country’s human and material resources to change the continent.

    NITDA’s Director-General, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, while interacting with the startups community at the event, said: “We have the potential as a country to be major game changer in the global technology industry and we have the human capacity to drive the momentum that could impact significantly on our economy and the rest of the continent.”

    The GITEX Technology Week 2016 is one of the world’s most influential technology events, opened this week with startups and innovative technologies from some major information communication technology (ICT) firms such as Precise Financial Systems (PFS) and Systemspecs, providers of the Remita solutions.

    The Technology week is hosting about 4,000 exhibitors and 64 participating countries in conference sessions, 230 global thought leaders will deliver insights across 65 sessions and 130 conference hours.

    Guiding organisations in their digital transformation, the GITEX Vertical Days conference programme will feature in-depth discussions from industry leaders on the key industry verticals of marketing, healthcare, finance, intelligent cities, retail, education, and energy.

  • Library council urges NITDA on local software devt

    The Librarians Registration Council of Nigeria (LRCN) has urged the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to work with local software developers in Nigeria to develop user-friendly mobile app for library service in the country.

    The council said technology has revolutionised the daily lives of individuals and the library service should not be an exemption where service could be delivered to users and students on any smartphone or other internet enabled devices which would make the library users stay connected to libraries service irrespective of their location.

    Its Registrar/CEO, Prof. Michael Afolabi, who spoke when he led members of his management team to NITDA on a visit, said the importance of teh agency as a very strategic stakeholder  has made it imperative to call on the Agency for exchange of views on how to fast track the ongoing collaborations between the two organisation.

    “To us NITDA is a world class intervention Agency in the ICT sector, intervening remarkably in different sector of the nation’s economy. We are glad that your organisation has emerged an international brand, exporting best practice,” he said.

    He said the council is developing standards for different categories of library and have commenced the review and set benchmark for library schools in Nigeria adding that the commission is partnering with some governmental and non-governmental organisations in order to make meaningful contribution to the education sector and library and information subsector in particular.

    He urged NITDA to finalise work on the e-library standard it formulated and set machinery in motion to commence the advocacy for the standard so that Nigeria public would understand and benefit from this policy.

    “On our part, we have gradually commenced a silent advocacy to create awareness about the availability of new standards for e-libraries in Nigeria. Our stakeholders often receive this news with excitement,” he said.

    NITDA Acting Director-General, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, assured that the agency is committed to enhancing the relationship that exists between the two organisations adding that NITDA’s mandate empowers it to intervene on other sectors and education is one of the sectors.

    “It is on this note we want to change the traditional outlook of our library to virtual library. Last week, we inaugurted one at Ekiti State University and by October another one will be inaugurated in Yola,” he said.

  • CBN, NITDA, FRSC, others to tackle dwindling IGR

    Top officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Galaxy BackBone HP, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government, thought leaders, executives and players in the electronic payment industry will, this week, converge on Abuja to address dwindling internally-generated revenue (IGR) of the government.

    Already, organisers of the event, the Electronic Payment Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), in  a statement, said it was  ready to host over 150 delegates at the two-day event which would start tomorrow.

    The e-Government Summit is an annual event that provides a platform for the public and private sector to dialogue on developments in the electronic payment space with bias for public sector.

    With “Attaining Increased Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR), Efficiency and Accountability through Smart Innovations” as its theme, the forum will provide opportunity for stakeholders to share ideas on how to leverage and harness smart technologies to increase the IGR..

    “This year’s summit will cover topics such as Increasing IGR, for government MDAs through Implementation of Smart Solution; Delivering Innovative Citizen-centric Services using ICT; Adopting the Financial Inclusion Roadmap for Improved Economy and Good Governance; Smart Government through Shared Services Model; Data Integration and Analysis, for Strategic Economic Development amongst others,” the statement said.

  • NITDA, NCC partner to grow GDP

    National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Acting Director-General, Dr Vincent Olatunji, has sought the collaboration of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to develop the information communications technology (ICT) industry to enable it to contribute about 50 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP).

    Olatunji spoke when the management of the agency visited the NCC Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Prof Umar Dambatta, in Abuja at the weekend.

    He said the visit became imperative in view of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s efforts to diversify, the economy, adding that it will allow the two agencies to explore areas of mutual collaboration.

    He said ICT is one of the few options the government has to diversify the economy and build capacity using ICT to improve productivity and service delivery as the realities of the global economy take its toll on the country.

    Olatunji said NITDA is the IT regulatory body that oversees the development of the ICT industry in Nigeria for steady growth; increase the integration of ICTs across all sectors and under-served communities in a manner that supports economic diversification while achieving growth, job and wealth creation.

    He told Dambatta that since its inception, the agency had embarked on a some programmes to drive inclusive development across rural and under-served communities by expanding the reach of IT to these communities.

    Such programmes include increase in access to the knowledge, content and information through ICT tools, creating jobs and wealth among the youths, bridging the digital divide between urban and rural dwellers, youth empowerment, expanding and deepening IT knowledge frontier in the country.

    He said NITDA has identified the challenges of ICT and the need for multi stakeholder partnership to brainstorm and formulate policies to drive the sector.

    He said the agency has two platforms for bringing stakeholders together to brainstorm. These are the Annual eNigeria Conference and the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) which takes place in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    He said the agency has set up the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE) and Office of Nigerian Content in ICT to accelerate the push for an all-encompassing development.

    Responding, Danbatta affirmed the willingness of NCC to collaborate with NITDA to provide efficient services to the public in job creation in ICT as economic cash cow of the country.

    He stressed the need for them to work together to achieve pervasive ICT penetration in line with the mandates of the two agencies.

    Danbatta said NCC’s mandate with that of NITDA, if pursued with vigour, would lead to rapid transformation of the ICT sector, especially now that oil revenues have fallen beyond imagination.

  • NITDA seeks support for Gitex

    The Acting Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Vincent Olatunji, is seeking support of Nigerians in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) towards the country’s successful participation in this year’s Gitex Technology Week scheduled for between October 16 and 20 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

    At an interactive session organised by the Nigeria foreign mission in the UAE through its Consulate in Dubai, Olatunji said NITDA will be promoting opportunities in non-oil sectors and how the government is committed to supporting foreign and local entrepreneurships, particularly in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.

    He said:  “All these levels of participation are designed to ensure maximum exposure to ICT and other non-oil sectors which is a cardinal economic goal of the current government under President Muhammadu Buhari. Dubai has become an international hub for business engagements. NITDA has already opened talks with several business prospects through the support of the DWTC and the Consular Office here in Dubai.

    “Since Nigeria started participating in Gitex, this is the first time we would be interacting with Nigerians and Nigerian business community here to seek your direct support and assure you of the willingness of the NITDA as well as sister agencies to work with you and enhance the value of the country’s GDP through non-oil enterprises,” said Olatunji as he spoke of the need for Nigerians to close ranks and promote the country as a strong, attractive economic brand.

    “ICT now pervades every other sector and singularly accounts for nearly half of the economic might of most frontline countries including Dubai in the UAE.”