Speaking at the 2008 Ministerial Press Briefing in commemoration of the First Year in Office of the State Governor, Babatunde Fashola at the Alausa Secretariat, Lagos, the State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr. Kadri Hamzat, said there has been “tremendous progress towards the e-government prowess of the state”.
He said that the state would pursue it further.
He said the huge success recorded in the ministry’s pilot solar electrification project at Bishop Kodji Village in Amuwo-Odofin Local government, has earned the ministry an approval to further provide solar energy to 10 additional villages spread across the state.
The Commissioner cited an instance where in a particular village his team had visited; a nine-year-old was yet to seen a Television set.
“We had to immediately buy them a TV set”, he said.
The project he further explained includes streetlights, solar powered borehole with two water tanks to provide portable water for villagers, a community hall provided with television, a radio set and electrical points where the villagers can charge their telephone sets. All these he explained, are solar powered.
On Information Technology in the state, Hamzat said government will consolidate its efforts on ICT by embarking on the creation of IT infrastructures that will allow for better administration of government activities through automation of her business processes.
Such infrastructures would include the establishment of digital villages and e-learning centres at the central business district on Lagos Island to replace the erstwhile central library along Broad Street; an establishment of an internet information centre at Bonny Camp and ICT laboratories in schools.
Other activities highlighted by the commissioner include training programmes conducted for resource centre personnel on handling of virus attacks at the Alausa Campus; basic computer training for officers of the ministry, web portal training; software development in the areas of Health Management Information System (HMIS), social security data base for the state, the implementation of the Central Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), letter management software and the Geographical Information System (GIS).
He however, expressed appreciation to the Governor for the vision, encouragement and unflinching support accorded the ministry in the execution of its programmes.
“We have taken up these challenges as envisioned by the administration to use science and technology to develop our state and better the lives of our people. We promise that God being on our side, we shall take Lagos State to greater heights”, he said.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): James Emejo
Quelle/Source: This Day, 14.05.2008
