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Tag: Kashifu Inuwa

  • NITDA to train 10 million Nigerians on digital literacy

    NITDA to train 10 million Nigerians on digital literacy

    Malam Kashifu Inuwa, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says the agency aims to train more than 10 million Nigerians on digital literacy annually.

    Inuwa disclosed this on Wednesday at a three-day digital literacy skills’ training for public servants in Abuja.

    The training workshop tagged “the Digital Literacy For All (DL4ALL)’’ was organised by NITDA in collaboration with the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation in Abuja.

    The NITDA D-G said, “Every year, we want to train at least 10.3 million Nigerians on digital literacy and we are also looking at developing the readiness of our workforce.’’

    He said that the agency’s plan followed the World Bank’s projection that by 2030, between 35 to 45 per cent of work in Nigeria would need digital competencies.

    He said that civil servants needed to be empowered with necessary digital skills to enhance their productivity and efficiency.

    Inuwa said that part of the objectives of the training was to enhance the skills and competencies of government workers, ensuring they became conversant with navigating digital tools and technologies.

    “This is particularly important as digital transformation is fundamentally about people, and having a workforce that is proficient in digital tools is crucial for driving economic growth and development.

    “Digital transformation is a journey, not a destination, and it is fundamentally about people, not technology, to drive meaningful change.

    “Technology makes our lives better, the government cannot accomplish that without you, as you are the one who creates the policies, designs the services and delivers them to citizens,’’ he said.

    Inuwa added that the agency launched the DL4ALL programme to enable it reach the ambitious goal of 70 per cent digital literacy by 2027.

    According to him, DL4ALL is targeted at empowering Nigerians with essential digital skills, making them digitally literate and proficient in navigating the digital landscape.

    He said the agency initially took the step of working with the Ministry of Education to develop digital literacy skills curriculum, which had been approved and implementation began.

    “We are working now on training all teachers and collaborating with National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education, and National Commission for Colleges of Education, to infuse it in all tertiary institutions’ curriculum.

    “The second one is working with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to recruit 80 champions in each NYSC stream.

    In her remarks, Mrs Didi Esther Walson-Jack, Head of Service of the Federation, emphasised the importance of transforming the civil service into a dynamic, technology-driven and globally competitive workforce.

    Walson-Jack was represented by the Career Management Officer, Mrs Fatima Mahmood.

    Mahmood said that the vision was part of the Federal Service Commission’s strategy and implementation plan, which prioritised the journey towards a digitally literate civil service system.

    She added that the workshop was not just a training exercise, but a pivotal opportunity to shape the future of Nigeria’s public service.

    “By acquiring cutting-edge tools and knowledge, participants will be empowered to deliver their mandate more effectively, driving meaningful change and progress in the country,’’ she said.

  • How startups attracted $4 billion into Nigeria in 4 years

    How startups attracted $4 billion into Nigeria in 4 years

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has disclosed how Nigerian startups attracted over $4 billion into the economy in terms of investments in four years.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Director General of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa made the disclosure at the Innovation Support Network (ISN) 2023 annual summit with the theme: “Unlocking Potential: Collaborating for Growth and Impact’’ In Abuja.

    He said that NITDA currently has over 500 startups, that had either gone through its programmes or those that ran in partnership with other stakeholders within the ecosystem.

    Based on statistics, he said, Nigeria had over 3000 startups, which was a far cry looking at the 200million  population of the country.

    He said the theme of the gathering was not only appropriate but also underscored the reality that collaboration was a new innovation leading competitive edge across all spheres of socio-economic activities.

    Inuwa commended the efforts of  ISN in sustaining this annual event, adding that its contribution to the growth of tech innovation ecosystem remains invaluable.

    He also congratulated ISN on the successful launch of ‘Omniverse’, the premier ecosystem platform for tech, innovation, and connected industries on the continent.

    The director general  said that the initiative would go a long to build collaborations, connections, community, and content that drive the entire ecosystem to scale investments and share knowledge for a positive, lasting impact.

    Inuwasaid: ‘‘The inauguration of the Omniverse is a testament to your collaborative efforts with relevant stakeholders in the ecosystem.

    “This annual gathering of tech innovation ecosystem stakeholders comprising researchers, creators, innovators, investors, regulators, and tech enthusiasts, provides a profitable platform for nurturing ideas into industry-changing products, services, and business processes.

    ‘‘Stakeholders also have the opportunity to network, connect, and foster new sustainable relationships with their relevant target audience and people.”

    He said that there were quite a lot of challenges in terms of regulation and policies.

    Inuwa said: “The StartUp Act aims to address the challenges in the ecosystem, providing funding, capacity building and infrastructure to the STartUps.

    ‘‘The tech industry thrives on collaboration. Research by the MIT Sloan School of Management revealed that collaborative innovation, where different organisations work together on research and development, has been on the rise.

    ‘‘Over 60 per cent of global innovation now involves some form of cross-organisational collaboration.

    “In addition, a 2020 report by Microsoft indicates that over 95 per cent of Fortune 500 companies rely on Microsoft Cloud services, illustrating how digital collaboration is driving business operations and innovation.

    ‘‘These statistics are indicative of the fact that the world becoming is increasingly interconnected, interdependent, and collaborative.”

    He, therefore, stated that collaboration was no longer an option, but a necessity for progress and growth.

    Inuwa urged that all levels of government, corporations, investors, Venture Capitalists, the academia, hubs, and entrepreneurs must deepen their collaboration.

    In her address, the Legal Partner to ISN, Beverly Agbakoba said  by organising the summit it wanted to boast home grown and organic tech businesses, starting from home and stepping out to the larger world.

    Agbakoba, who described ISN as the ‘Hub of hubs’ in Nigeria said over 200 hubs across Nigeria were gathered at the summit, with capacity building support, skill acquisition to engage other youth in job and wealth creation.

    ‘‘These hubs done a lot of advocacy training over 7000 girls in the north. We are also here to give guidance to the hubs. For us, future leaders are all in this room and are ready to contribute their quota to the economy.

    ‘‘We want to boast of home grown and organic tech businesses, starting from here and stepping out to the larger world. The law are not too far away from the industry,’’ she added.

    She said the cardinal focus of gathering was to encourage and strengthen collaboration towards assisting innovators in discovering innovative and efficient solutions to the various problems confronting the economic, social, and governance realms.

    ‘‘Collaboration thrives when people with diverse knowledge, talents, and skills agree to work together to find solutions to our everyday problems.

    “Innovative thinking that results in the creation of new goods, services, or procedures is the foundation of long-term economic progress and success,” she said.

    The Director Corperate of ISN, Mrs Maryam Lawan said, ‘‘by this summit, we are bringing innovation support together under one umbrella to collaborate and achieve greater height.

    “For us to win as a team, we need to come together ensure innovation and nurture talents and to network with enterprise support network.’

    “ISN is also guiding startups on how to structure their business and provide them with right serves, as well as access to investment,” she said.

  • How MSMEs can increase Nigeria’s GDP by $50bn – NITDA

    How MSMEs can increase Nigeria’s GDP by $50bn – NITDA

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says that digitalisation of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) could increase Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 50 billion US dollars.

    The Director-General, NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said this during his visit to the GIZ/Digital Transformation Centre, Nigeria office as a special guest at its Techmybiz pitch-a-thon event in Victoria Island, Lagos.

    Abdullahi said that digital transformation of MSMEs would help to grow the nation’s economy.

    He said that according to recent research, any MSME that transformed digitally could increase its revenue by 26 per cent and reduce cost by 22 per cent.

    “Statistical research in 2018 showed that digitally transformed enterprises contributed $13.5 trillion to the global GDP, and it is projected that in 2023, it will reach $53.3 trillion, which is more than 50 percent of the global GDP.

    “Therefore, if we in Nigeria can digitally transform our MSMEs, it could add 26 per cent to GDP or to the revenue of the MSMEs.

    “Today, MSMEs contribute 43 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP which is about $205 billion. Twenty-six per cent of this means digitisation of our MSMEs can increase our GDP by $53 billion,’’ the NITDA boss said.

    He said that the Federal Government was committed to digitally transforming the economy through a seven-point strategic roadmap and action plan.

    Abdullahi stressed that federal government regulations was not to stifle businesses, but rather to influence businesses to unlock opportunities using technologies.

    According to the NITDA boss, it has many regulations to protect the market, enable innovation and improve service delivery.

    He highlighted the strategic action plan that supported MSMEs as a developmental regulation meant to create an enabling environment for startups or MSMEs.

    Abdullahi said that the second pillar of the plan was about digital literacy and skills, because digitalisation or digital transformation or digital economy was a knowledge-based economy in which human capital was the most valuable resource.

    He said: “NITDA wants to achieve 90 per cent digital literacy by 2030. We want every Nigerian to be able to use digital devices to access digital services.

    “Every country needs to field in-country skills and build its digital offering, so NITDA started the initiative of training one million developers in 2022.

    “So far, we have trained 219,000 Nigerians on different aspect of technology.

    “On digital literacy, NITDA has trained more that three million Nigerians through various channels.’’

    The director-general said that the DTC Nigeria was an initiative funded by the German Government and the European Union, but implemented by GIZ with NITDA as the implementing partner.

    Abdullahi added that the GIZ/DTC and NITDA are in partnership to bridge the digital divide and are working together to co-create.

    Also speaking during the visit, Mr Bunmi Kunle-Dawodu, the State Manager, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), said that SMEDAN had helped entrepreneurs in a lot of ways.

    Kunle-Dawodu said that one of such ways was through implementing its policy document, in which specific programmes had been designed to meet the needs of MSMEs.

    He said that its partnership with GIZ Nigeria and DTC had helped businesses to digitalise in many ways as technology had come to stay.

    The SMEDAN manager said that driving businesses with technology made it easy for entrepreneurs to showcase their businesses and work better.

    “I think and believe that this partnership is timely, and currently, in Nigeria, we have five Unicorn companies.

    “SMEDAN is looking at how to increase the Unicorn within the country and if possible, transit such companies to decagons and onboard so many with the partnership with DTC and SMEDAN,’’ he said.

    He said that the Techmybiz pitch-a-thon was a great event that had produced some pitchers who had solutions to some challenges.

    ‘’We are hoping to absorb these solutions into some of the work done in SMEDAN,’’ Kunle-Dawodu said.

    The Techmybiz Pitch-a-thon is an end-to-end digital transformation process implemented with the Innovation Support Network (ISN).

    It specifically aims at identifying and showcasing digital solutions developed by Nigerian innovators that are targeted at MSMEs.

  • Strike: ASUU cautions NITDA against jeopardizing efforts on UTAS

    Strike: ASUU cautions NITDA against jeopardizing efforts on UTAS

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has cautioned the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to stop making comments capable of jeopardizing efforts so far made on the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for the payment of university lecturers in the country.

    President of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke gave the caution in a statement on Sunday as the union met to determine its position on the one month warning strike it embarked on since February 14th and which elapses on Monday.

    According to Osodeke, the NITDA misled the public when its Director General, Kashifu Inuwa and the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami recently told the public that the UTAS failed an integrity test.

    The ASUU President stressed in the statement that on the contrary, there are evidence that the UTAS at the end of the test all, without exception, expressed satisfaction with the payment platform as a suitable solution for salary payment in Nigerian universities.

    The statement reads: “The one-month roll-over strike declared by our Union on 14th February, 2022, has entered the fourth week.

    “During this period, we have been having engagements with the government over the contending issues that necessitated the action. One of the contending issues is the deployment of University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) which is a robust software created by ASUU Technical group to manage personnel and payroll in the university system.

    “The Federal Government had referred UTAS to NITDA (National Information Technology Development Agency) to conduct User Acceptance Test (UAT) and Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Test (VAPT) prior to the final deployment. The process, which commenced on Thursday, 3rd March, 2022, is still on-going.

    “This press statement is necessitated by the need for ASUU to put the records straight on the grounds already covered in our patriotic struggle to get the government to deploy UTAS as a suitable solution for salary payment in our university system.

    “Of particular concern to us is the statement credited to both the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy and Director General, NITDA to the effect that UTAS has failed the integrity test.

    “Let us put it on record that an integrity test was carried out by NITDA on 10th August, 2021 in NUC where relevant government agencies and all the end-users in the University system were present.

    “At the end of the exercise, all, without exception, expressed satisfaction with UTAS as a suitable solution for salary payment in our universities. This was attested to by the report coming from NITDA then to the effect that UTAS scored 85% in User Acceptance Test (UAT).

    “However, in a curious twist of submission, the NITDA Technical Team, after conducting a comprehensive functionality test came out to say that out of 687 test cases, 529 cases were satisfactory, 156 cases queried, and 2 cases were cautioned.

    “Taking this report on its face value, the percentage score is 77%. The question that arises from this is can 77% in any known fair evaluation system be categorized as failure? Suffice it to say here that some observations and questions were raised by NITDA to which UTAS technical team has to provide clarification.

    “As we speak, our engagement with NITDA over the second round of testing continues. The Union is worried that while this exercise is going on, the Minister and the DG, NITDA went to press after FEC meeting of Wednesday, 9th March, 2022, to mislead the nation that UTAS has failed the integrity test.

    “We wish to draw your attention to the fact that NITDA gave a report to the fact that NITDA gave the report that UTAS did well in both the integrity test and user acceptability verification. Clearly, 85% and 77% are high class grades in any known evaluation system.

    “In their desperation to justify their false assertions, they threw up issues such as Data centre and hosting of UTAS software which are clearly outside the rubrics of ASUU’s responsibilities in the deployment of UTAS.

    “ASUU and NITDA are still engaged in the testing process. It is pertinent to note that one of the core mandates of NITDA is to encourage local content development.

    “Therefore, NITDA has to discharge its responsibility to ensure that this solution developed by Nigerian academics is deployed. In doing so, the principles of transparency should be adhered to by making available to the public the set of criteria or benchmark for certification of information technology application in Nigeria.

    “The DG, NITDA should stop making comments that are capable of jeopardizing the joint on-going testing of UTAS between the NITDA Technical Team and its counterpart in our Union.

    “However, if this behaviour continues, we will have no choice but to demand that the NITDA Technical Report on UTAS and our Union’s response be made public in order to shed more light on the ongoing controversies without further waste of time.

    “The DG, NITDA and the Minister superintending the agency are challenged to a public discussion on any national media to put all matters to rest for the benefit of our students, union members, and the Nigerian public in general”.

  • Strike: We did not approve UTAS, it failed integrity test – NITDA tells ASUU

    Strike: We did not approve UTAS, it failed integrity test – NITDA tells ASUU

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said the Universities Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) presented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for the payment of lecturers in the country failed its integrity test.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa made this known when he fielded questions from State House correspondents at the end of a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.

    Recall that ASUU had in December 2021 celebrated the supposed endorsement and approval of UTAS by NITDA after its president, Emmanuel Osodeke revealed the payment platform was approved by the federal government agency.

    “NEC is pleased that the end-user evaluation report overwhelmingly endorses UTAS for immediate deployment by the government for Nigerian universities. On our part, ASUU is fully prepared to address all the technical observations made by NITDA in order to make this happen,” Osodeke said at the time.

    However, Inuwa has said the NITDA never endorsed UTAS, stressing that the platform failed integrity test, ad that the federal government is still waiting for ASUU to upgrade and return the platform after addressing technical issues observed.

    TNG reports ASUU has embarked on one a month warning strike on February 14 to press home their demands involving about N1.3 trillion. The union also wants the federal government to adopt the UTAS payment platform to replace the Integrated Personnel and Payment Information System (IPPIS), which Osodeke had described as evil.

    Reacting to the contentious issues that led to the ongoing ASUU strike, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, said when he received a letter from the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, requesting a review of the submission and the technical ability of the software of the system, he forwarded the request to NITDA

    He said: “NITDA conducted their own analysis, their own testing and sent same back to me, and I drafted a cover letter I forwarded to the Minister of Labour and Employment, and I copied the two Ministers of Education, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and also office of the Accountant General of the Federation and even NUC (National University Commission).”

    Pantami, however, directed the director-general of NITDA, who sat beside him, to give the situation report on the matter.

    Inuwa said: “When we received the request to review UTAS, you know, building a complex system like UTAS that involves employees’ personal data, and also payment system, we have to subject it to best practice tests before approving.

    “Normally, when we are reviewing that kind of system, we perform three tests.

    “Firstly, because when you’re building a system, it’s not just about the technology, you need to consider the people that will use this system and the process.

    “If you don’t align people, process and technology, you will never get results. No matter how good the technology is, if the people don’t understand how to use it, they won’t use it. And if the process is different from the way the people work, also, they won’t use it.

    “So that is a process of building technology.

    “You need to get the business requirement. What do you want to achieve? So it’s not the technology that will come first, it is the business requirement, what do you want to achieve, then you need to identify the capabilities you need to achieve, that is your business objective.

    “Part of the capability is the technology you need to bring in and the people that will operate the technology before you start thinking of the technology, because technology is always a tool that will help you to achieve an objective or to do your work. If you bring the tool before knowing what to do with it, it will be useless.

    “So, when they came, we said okay, fine, we will do a user acceptance test. ASUU you’ve built this system, but you are not the one that will use the system. There are people in bursary, and in finance that will use this system.

    “So we need to do users’ acceptance test with them, let them come, show them the system, let them see if it can help them to do the work there.

    “Secondly, we said we’ll do a vulnerability test to test the security integrity of the system. Because if there is vulnerability, people can hack it, can change it, and it involves financial transactions. Adding zero means a lot. So we say we need to do that.

    “And also we need to do a stress test. You can build a system on your laptop or on a small computer, use it but when you put so much data it will crash, we need to do the stress test to make sure that system can do.

    “This is on the system. Then also you need to have a data centre where you need to put that system because just having a system without the data centre it will not operate also.

    “So, we did all these three tests with them. And the system couldn’t pass. We wrote the reports and submitted it back to the Minister, which he forwarded to all relevant institutions, including ASUU.

    “As we speak now, ASUU is working, trying to fix all the issues we highlighted with the system and we will review it again, but that is just one half of the story.’’

    According to him, ASUU is yet to inform the federal government where the data centre of the system will be installed.

    “The second half of the story also, we need to find where to put that system like IPPIS; we have a data centre built for it. ASUU where are we going to put it?

    “That means we need to have the data centre and also we need to check the data centre to make sure it meets the minimum requirement, because if you put people’s information and the system crashes, how can you pay them salary?

    “You need to build redundancy. There are a lot of things to do. So, but as we speak, they’re trying to fix all the issues we highlighted with the system. Then when we finish that, we need to look at the second half of the story, getting where to install it.”

    Recall that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige had on March 1 briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the progress report over the on-going negotiation between federal government and ASUU.

    Ngige, who spoke to newsmen at the end of the meeting with the president, said the federal government had so far paid over N92 billion as earned allowances and revitalisation fee to federal owned universities across the country.

    He said this was part of the implementation of the 2020 December agreement reached with the ASUU.

  • FG targets paperless government system by 2030

    FG targets paperless government system by 2030

    The Federal Government said that it was working to achieve a paperless government system by 2030.

    Prof. Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, said this at the Champions Day and closing of 2021 Service Wide Capacity Building Programme on e-Government at the e-Government Training Centre (e-GTC) in Abuja.

    The training, held in eight batches, was facilitated by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) with support from the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation (OHCSF).

    1,376 public servants were trained from Nov. 2020 to Dec. 2021 at the centre located in the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), Abuja.

    The beneficiaries are expected to drive the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) to achieve change and leverage technology in building a vibrant digital economy.

    Pantami recalled that from 2019 to the end of 2021 the ministry had come up with 16 policies to drive the digital economy agenda which included policies on Virtual Engagements and e-Government.

    He said, “by 2030, we hope to achieve a paperless government that will be driven by Blockchain technology and that can be used to achieve a lot.”

    The Minister said that through government efforts, NITDA, by approving IT projects in MDAs in 2019 and 2020, was able to save the FG about N9 billion and about N152 million.

    According to him, by the implementation of policies in the sector, more can be achieved.

    He directed the e-GTC committee to ensure digitisation of activities in the centre in the year.

    “The committee should ensure that the training is extended to state governments and Chief Executives of organisations for a comprehensive e-Government system and educate them on the benefits of digitalisation of government processes.

    “We also need a database of these trainings for reference sake to raise the country’s ranking at the international community,” he said.

    The Minister urged the champions to replicate the training in their various organisations in a train-the-trainer manner to ensure the training transcended to their colleagues.

    Dr Folasade Yemi-Essan, Head of Civil Service of the Federation, said the OHCSF was working with NITDA to create a digital platform for easy service delivery in the public service space.

    Yemi-Essan noted that agencies of government needed to collaborate better for a sustainable digital economy agenda, without which the nation could not move forward.

    The Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, who also is the Chairman, Governing Committee of the e-GTC, said there was need to build human capacity in the drive toward digital transformation.

    Inuwa recalled that the programme was part of the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari during the official unveiling of the NDEPS on Nov. 28, 2019.

    He said that the agency was to use the e-GTC to provide the capacity building component of e-Government Masterplan implementation for civil servants across Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

    He also recalled that a 10-man governing committee to oversee the affairs of the e-government training centre was instituted in Nov. 2019.

    “The committee engaged 16 Korean-trained public servants as resource persons to train the trainers, even though the proper training did not start until November 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “The centre has trained 1,376 civil servants from 48 MDAs between November 2020 and December 2021.

    “The centre adopted the government cost-saving strategy of hosting events organised by partner-MDAs and has hosted 50 events spanning 184 days for interested MDAs in 2020 and 2021.’’

    He said that services provided by NITDA included security, expanded training centre, desktops, internet, among other facilities.

    He added that as part of the agency’s plans for 2022, it would train more civil servants, commence executive capacity building for top-level decisions and policymakers such as permanent secretaries, CEOs of parastatals and lawmakers.

    He added that it would begin capacity building for both federal and state public servants.

    “The benefits of the training carried out by the e-GTC include recognising the opportunities e-government can bring, identify and prioritise where technology can be best applied to drive efficiencies, enable change and improve service delivery.

    He said that part of it included developing and implementing a Channel Shift strategy to encourage citizens to take up and move to the most efficient e-enabled services.

    The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Bitrus Nabasu, said that taking advantage of the centre could help reposition the country on the digital global map.

    The event witnessed awards to outstanding public servants who participated in the training, and an award of “Best Leadership for e-Government” to the minister.

  • Cybercrime: NITDA urges police to protect legitimate IT business pros

    Cybercrime: NITDA urges police to protect legitimate IT business pros

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has appealed to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to protect legitimate IT business professionals in Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the NITDA especially urged the NPF to allow young Nigerians with genuine IT businesses operate freely.

    The Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, made the call on Wednesday when he paid a working visit with the management team of the agency to the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali, in Abuja.

    Inuwa said that there were innovations being initiated by Startups across the country which was impacting positively on the digital economy agenda of the country.

    “The critical role of Start-ups in our journey towards a Digital Nigeria cannot be overemphasised.

    “However, some tech Start-ups have reported being harassed by some Law Enforcement Agencies, with some having their IT systems confiscated.

    “This has negatively impacted on their business operations as well as the economy.

    “NITDA maintains a database of genuine Start-ups with verifiable business ventures and duly registered with the agency and access to such a database can be granted to the Force when need arises,” he said.

    Inuwa also said that in spite of genuine individuals running their IT businesses, there were cyber criminals that engage in cyber attacks, while there are private and public organisations that violate data in their possessions.

    He recalled that NITDA in January 2019 established the Nigerian Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) to ensure that citizens’ data were protected.

    He added that they would collaborate with the NPF to ensure that public and private organisations complied with the provisions of NDPR.

    Inuwa said the enforcement would ensure that citizens’ personal information was protected, tackle the menace of cybercrimes and encourage safer use of Internet among individuals, public, and private organisations in the country.

    “Cybersecurity has become very essential in today’s world where the society is more reliant on digital technology than ever before; and the sophistication and relentless attacks of cybercriminals are incomparable.

    “There is apparently no sign that this trend will slow down anytime soon and there is need for the collaboration between NITDA and the Force to tackle the menace through ensuring that organisations protect the personal information of all citizens at their disposal,” he said.

    He decried that individuals, private organisations, government establishments, the Military and paramilitary have all been targets of online attacks due to high rate of data leakage on the internet.

    “Reports from our cybersecurity monitoring platforms have indicated that activities of cybercriminals have increased exponentially; data leakage that can lead to identity theft are now being posted on social media and even auctioned for sale on the dark web.

    “It is important to note that this is a global phenomenon, nations around the world are reporting increased numbers of cyber espionage, Business Email Compromise Scams, Identity theft, among numerous other cybercrimes,” Inuwa said.

    The director-general added that the agency was strengthening its Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT) to provide support for Ministries, Departments and Agencies in addressing Cybersecurity incidents.

    He further stated that the agency publishes Information Assurance Guidelines for MDAs towards ensuring that they implemented the minimum controls required to safeguard their information assets.

    Inuwa also said that the enactment of the NDPR further ensured that personal data of data subjects were protected, adding that mechanisms are in place to ensure that violations to the regulation were investigated and sanctions applied where necessary.

    He recalled that the Federal Government had in April 2006 issued a circular directing all MDAs planning to embark on IT projects to obtain clearance from NITDA and subsequently re-enforced by another circular issued in August 2018.

    Responding, Alkali appreciated NITDA and assured it of the Force’s support towards realising the agency’s mandates.

    He reiterated the need for synergy and collaboration with NITDA, stating that no organisation can effectively operate without leveraging digital technologies and NITDA being the IT regulator in the country, was central to the activities of the Force.

  • NITDA launches National Public Key Infrastructure for communications’ safety

    NITDA launches National Public Key Infrastructure for communications’ safety

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has commenced operations of the National Public Key Infrastructure (NPKI) to ensure safety of communication services online.

    Mrs Hadiza Umar, the Head, Cooperate Affairs and External Relations of NITDA, said this on Wednesday in a statement in Abuja.

    Umar said that the commencement of the NPKI was unveiled by Mr Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of the agency in a Key Generation and Handover Ceremony for Root Certification Authority (RCA) for Country Signing Certification Authority (CSCA) and Country Verification Certification Authority (CVCA) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    She said that the NPKI would be pivotal to the achievement of digital economy services in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).

    “The national PKI will guarantee, secure communication for all online services, provide security against unauthorised access and disclosure of stored information by addressing the fundamentals of cyber security confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation.

    “The deployment of the national PKI will empower e-Government and digital economy transformations through the provision of secure data exchange and authentication for electronic transactions protection which can be leveraged by the banking sector and its regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    “It will ensure accreditation and authorisation of web applications which can be utilised by startups, Micro Small Medium Enterprise and corporate organisations.

    “NPKI will accelerate local and cheaper digital certificates for Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME), email signing and encryption for organisations,” Umar said.

    According to her, it will ensure trust, transparency, accountability, validation services in the issuance,authentication of digital identity, passports and travel documents, stamp duty, tax clearance certificates, health test results and vaccine certificates among others.

    She recalled that in August 2017, the Federal Government issued Presidential directives mandating NITDA to harmonise all Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) related projects in Nigeria, in line with its mandate.

    Umar added that the deployment of the national PKI would facilitate effective administration and regulation of the national PKI, ensuring full use and benefits of the associated PKI-as-a-Service (PaaS).

    “Deploying the national PKI will facilitate the issuance of Document Signer Certificates, the management of the Public Key Directory (PKD) via the Country Signing Certificate Authority (CSCA) Master-list.

    “It will further enhance the use of digital certificates to authenticate documents, in line with the NDEPS,” Umar said.

    The launch, she said was performed by Veridos Germany, witnessed by NIMC, Galaxy Backbone Limited,Standard Organisation of Nigeria, among other stakeholders.

  • Nigeria to lead Africa in AI, blockchain technology – NITDA DG

    Nigeria to lead Africa in AI, blockchain technology – NITDA DG

    The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said that Nigeria would lead other African countries in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain technology.

    He said this would lead to the economic diversification of the continent.

    Inuwa made the assertion on Wednesday at the virtual Digital Africa Conference and Exhibition 2021 where he spoke on “Building a New Africa with AI and Blockchain.”

    He said that with the growing population of the continent and the dwindling oil revenue, especially in Nigeria, there was need to harness other areas to diversify the economy.

    According to him, emerging technology is one of these areas, and will play an important role in economic diversification.

    “Digital technologies are changing the world at a faster pace than previously experienced waves of technological innovation.

    “Nigeria needs to accelerate growth and modernise its economy through the development of a digital-led growth strategy for the Nigerian economy.

    “It is pertinent to note that despite the economic shocks from COVID-19 pandemic, most of the growth observed in the economies were those from viable digital economies.

    “Digital economy has been identified as an engine of growth, hence Nigeria can harness it as a driver of growth and innovation,” he said.

    The NITDA boss affirmed that the World Bank Group Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) initiative supported the digital transformation strategy for Africa, prepared by the African Union (AU).

    He also pointed out that the DE4A initiative recognised that digital economy could help accelerate the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

    He recounted that recently a call to action was made with the unveiling of the “Economic Sustainability Plan 2020″ which sought to put technology at the forefront of driving development in Nigeria.

    Inuwa said the conference was a meeting point for professionals, practitioners, and policymakers to brainstorm on the best ways to harness these technologies to the advantage of the citizenry.

    “For Nigeria, a country in dire need to diversify its economy, digital economic activities are key for diversification because they transcend all aspect of human endeavours and the economic sector,” he said.

    He pointed out that at NITDA, the development and utilisation of emerging technologies was one of the strategic pillars for the 2021-2024 Roadmap and Action Plan of the agency.

    To drive that pillar, he said the agency was collaborating with relevant stakeholders and researchers to ensure AI, Blockchain, and other emerging technologies to support the economic diversification and sustainability plan for the country.

    He reiterated that the focus on the economic advancement of Sub-Saharan Africa, leveraging emerging technologies, specifically AI, Blockchain, Internet of Things and 5G was highly commendable and apt.

    He urged stakeholders present at the event to make necessary partnerships and collaborations towards making Nigeria a leading knowledge and digital economy by 2030.

    The Keynote Speaker at the event, Prof. Umar Danbatta, Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), encouraged Africa to take advantage of the unprecedented volume of data being generated on sentiment, behaviour, human health, commerce, communications, migration and more.

    “Adoption of AI solutions are expected to increase tremendously in the next few years and competition among major AI companies is expected to be intense.

    “In a recent report published by Markets and Markets (M&M), the global AI market size is projected to grow from 58.3 billion dollars in 2021 to 309.6 billion dollars by 2026.

    “It is a compound of enormous growth rate of 39.7 per cent during the forecast period,” Danbatta said.

    He explained that BlockChain was the foundation for crypto currency such as bitcoin; one of the newest technologies that had received extensive global attention in recent times.

    According to him, BlockChain served as an immutable measure which allowed transactions take place and its applications are springing up, covering numerous fields including financial services, refutation systems, Internet of Things (IoT), health, among others.

    Danbatta also said that robust and reliable broadband infrastructure and advanced technology, such as the 5th Generation Network (5G), were required to unleash the huge economic potential of AI and BlockChain in every country.

    He reiterated that African countries, including Nigeria, must be positioned to take advantage of the huge revenue in AI technologies, BlockChain especially, in the next five years to make way for a digital economy.

    AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions while Blockchain technology is a structure that stores transactional records, also known as the block, of the public in several databases, known as the chain.

  • NITDA begins 3rd phase capacity training for Public Institutions on e-Government

    NITDA begins 3rd phase capacity training for Public Institutions on e-Government

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has commenced the third phase of virtual strategic capacity building training for Federal Public Institutions (FPI) in Abuja.

    Speaking at the ceremony on Thursday, NITDA Director-General, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said that the training was aimed at hastening the implementation of National e-Government Master Plan as well as inculcate the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in government business.

    Inuwa, represented by Dr Vincent Olatunji, NITDA Director, e-Government Development and Regulation, said that the training was also to entrench that the application of technology in running government businesses, especially during post Coronavirus COVID-19 era.

    “The training in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS),the major pillar driving the training is the development of human capital and that will help drive government initiatives and plans in various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs),” he said.

    He said that the inauguration of the Digital Transformation-Technical Working Groups (DT-TWGs) on Aug. 27, has resulted in the training of 442 workers from 89 MDAs, hence the need to train Chief Executive officers of the organisations to ensure exchange of ideas.

    Inuwa said that the main focus of the training included e-Government and National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy, Legal Framework for e-Government and Managing Government Process Reengineering.

    Mr Nasir Shinkafi, Chief Technology Officer, Backbone Connectivity Networks Nigeria Ltd, highlighted the main attributes of e-government to include – transparency, efficiency and quality service.

    “These attributes will yield strategic outcome in government performance, create responsible financial management and competency and ensure committed non-corruptible officers,” he said.

    Participants at the training included Directors of ICT and Heads of Procurement, Network Administrators and Domain Managers in Federal Public Institutions(FPI).