As part of efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the nation’s e-government masterplan, the Federal Government said it has trained 1376 civil servants drawn from 48 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government between November 2020 and December 2021.
The director-general of the National Information Technology and Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, made this known while giving updates on the activities of the e-Government Training Center (e-GTC) during the champion’s day/closing of 2021 service-wide capacity building programme on e-government yesterday in Abuja.
He maintained that civil servants were key drivers in the implementation of the master plan in Nigeria, hence the need to train the government’s workforce for a smooth transition to e-governance.
Underscoring the need to switch to e-government implementation, Abdullahi maintained that digital technologies have brought about unprecedented opportunities to drive efficiencies, enable automation and change how society interacts and engages in all facets of life.
“To achieve this vibrant digital economy, there is a dire need to build the capacity of civil servants that will drive and provide services to citizens and implement the e-government masterplan. Consequently, as part of the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, during the official unveiling of the Digital Economy National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) on November 28, 2019, the centre’s sole mandate is to provide the capacity-building component of the e-government masterplan implementation for civil servants across the MDAs.
“Subsequently, in December 2019, the minister of communications and digital economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, inaugurated a 10-man governing committee to oversee the affairs of the e-government training centre. The membership of the committee comprises staff from the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Galaxy Backbone Ltd (GBB), Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) and the Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN),” he said.
Listing plans for 2022, the NITDA boss said the centre targets the training of more civil servants, commencing executive capacity building for top-level decisions and policymakers such as permanent secretaries, CEOs of parastatals, and legislative members and starting capacity-building sessions for both federal and state public servants outside Abuja.
He listed benefits of the training carried out by the e-GTC will provide to the civil servants include recognising the opportunities e-government can bring and identifying and prioritising where technology can be best applied to drive efficiencies, enable change and improve service delivery for citizens; understanding and analysing where to apply technologies appropriately to enable a digital transformation that serves the department and citizens and developing and implementing a ‘channel shift’ strategy to encourage citizens to take up and move to the most efficient e-enabled services.
