This could apparently be because it was struggling under no legal backing to its operations and activities.
However, the agency got a life line last year when the National Assembly passed the Act backing its operations and activities into law.
From then on, the question frequently coming from industry watchers was how the agency was going to grapple with the load of assignments it ought to have carried out but failed due to either poor driving force, no legal backing, or part of both.
The agency ordinarily should not only be responsible for drawing roadmap for ICT development but ensure supervision of a religious implementation of same, to speed up what level of development the telecom sector has ushered in through the advent of GSM in 2001.
Moreover, in other parts of the world, agencies like NITDA are researchers’ reference point as it provides baseline information like how many IT professionals are there in the country or how many units of computers are produced, among others.
But there are conflicting statistics on these information as operators and participants release alleged inflated data to suit either their market projections or promote their company status, because not armed with the real facts, NITDA could not challenge the statistics.
These nearly reduced to the barest minimum, the confidence and high hope of industry development reposed in NITDA until last week when the agency made a stunning wake up from its near oblivion, gathering stakeholders to sample a development plan it called Nigerian ICT4D plan.
Nigerian ICT4D, is a development plan which NITDA says is a programme set out to provide action plan with realistic targets and benchmarks for sectoral applications of ICT for National Development. The plan includes actions and programmes that cover various sectors of the national economy for short, medium and long term implementation by relevant stakeholders.
The NITDA proposal for ICT for development (ICT4D) is however not new in the industry, but the agency was unique in its approach of throwing it open to relevant sectors of the economy which the development plan would affect at the long run, to contribute to the draft document.
What this means is that the final document which would be the collation of different contributions from different industry players, would be presented to the Federal Executive council for approval and then implemented by all stakeholders.
Addressing stakeholders at the forum in Lagos last week, the agency’s DG, Prof Cleopas Angaye, admitted that the programme was belated but assured that the outcome would give leverage to national economic growth.
According to the DG, “the National Committee that worked on this document was made up of professionals drawn from the private and public sector, NGOs, educational institutions, and the media amongst others.
It was inaugurated about four years ago by the former Minister of Science and Technology, Prof. Turner T. Isoun. You will therefore agree with me that what we are doing today is long overdue and that enormous intellectual work has gone into it”.
The sectors covered in the Nigeria ICT4D included e-Government, ICT Infrastructure, Health, Agriculture, Education, Human Resource Development, Research and Development, Security and Law Enforcement, Legal and Regulatory Framework, Private sector Participation and IT Popularisation and Awareness.
The stakeholders were expected to provide guidelines for project execution in all the sectors covered by the action plan, to form policy document on which NITDA shall seek collaboration with stakeholders from within and outside the country for specific IT related projects that would enhance sustainable national development.
This is with the view that such collaboration and projects would involve a wide range of activities that would enhance the development of the IT sector in Nigeria.
Angaye said that specific attention would be focused on effective policy direction for the IT industry in Nigeria; development of appropriate IT infrastructure; development of appropriate guidelines and standards; ICT curricula for the educational sector; capacity building for globally competitive workforce; enhanced healthcare delivery; effective law enforcement and judicial system; development of agricultural sector to enhance food security, and creation of necessary enabling environment for the full integration of IT in the national development.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Prince Osuagwu
Quelle/Source: Vanguard, 23.01.2008
