IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Director General of the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Prof. Cleopas Angaye has explained why the much-publicized e-govt has not taken off fully despite repeated assurances in the past that it would soon be flagged off by the President. This is even as the Special Assistant to the President on ICT, Emmanuel Arinze spoke of the commitment of the Obasanjo administration to the development and deployment of ICT in the country. Angaye who spoke at a press conference held in the premises of Omatek, the local computer manufacturer, attributed the delay to the need for the integration of the different systems and the inability to put in place the identifier system yet. "It is not in the interest of the project to start off with stand-alone systems" he explained, stressing that the beauty of e-government is the ability of integration of all the systems in one single platform.

He indicated that most of the individual projects put in place by private sector operators like e-customs, e-payment, e-immigration, e-kiosks and many more were ready and working fine but indicated that any e-government project that is put in place without integration would be a waste of time.

Angaye also attributed the delay in the take-off to the need to also complete work on the identifier system in which he said the President had deep interest. The identifier system would help with the problem of identifying Nigerians easily and reduce crime to the minimum.

With the identifier system in place, it would be possible to capture the data about individual Nigerians on a server somewhere so that all agencies can have access to it at the push of a button.

Arinze also reiterated the commitment of the present government to the development of ICT in the country. He said that it was as a mark of the commitment that the federal government allocated a part of the Federal Secretariat in Lagos to operators in the IT sector as an Software Development Park.

He also indicated that the government had just completed the complete networking by Radio and LAN of the seat of government, Aso Rock Villa to be fully IT compliant, stressing that officials in Aso Rock now have a network where they can share documents or use the Internet.

He said the government's commitment to ICT was borne out of the realization that IT that gives the country an opportunity to catch-up with the developed world. He however said that the government realizes the need that apart from embracing IT, there was a need for us to adopt standards that would make the nation competitive in the international arena.

Angaye also indicated that in line with the government's policy to encourage the development of the software sector that NITDA had set up a software development Fund. Angaye, himself a software developer, said that contributions to the fund would come from private companies who would be encouraged to contribute to specific projects.

Such companies would enjoy some incentives as contained in the ICT policy.

Already, funds have begun to flow in into the Development Fund, perhaps giving an indication that it would be a huge success.

The Fund according to the DG, would be ploughed into software research and development in areas of critical need in the economy; human and institutional capacity building, especially in preparation for the burgeoning outsourcing business; made in Nigeria software promotions programs; and administering deployment programs such as in train-the-trainer schemes in Microsoft and open source applications.

Autor: Godfrey Ikhemuemhe

Quelle: AllAfrica, 14.09.2005