The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has lauded the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for being the only government organisation to be conferred with the National Productivity Order of Merit award at the just concluded ceremony in Abuja.
Led by its national president, Prof. Adesina Sodiya during a courtesy call on the director-general of NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, the society presented a ‘Proud Ambassador’ award to the DG for his outstanding leadership.
While appreciating the agency for its support for society, Sodiya sought further areas of cooperation between the society and the agency.
“We are here as a society to continue to support what you are doing, to promote and develop IT in Nigeria, to congratulate the DG on the award bestowed on the agency, invite the DG to the NCS building and to look at how NITDA has been providing support. We will improve on our synergy with you so that we can do more together,” he added.
Earlier, Abdullahi expressed NITDA’s readiness and willingness to collaborate more with society.
Asserting the unwavering commitment of NITDA to collaborate in the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) through the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024), the DG said: “We have an ambitious target of making Nigeria a start-up nation and to train 1 million programmers between now and next year to achieve 95 per cent digital literacy in Nigeria by the year 2030,” he said. “We believe we cannot succeed in isolation. That is why we collaborate with organisations like yours.”
The DG informed that he had earlier received delegates from the FCT chapter of the society who are ready to collaborate with NITDA by making inputs to the NITDA legal framework and participating in other areas that may be required occasionally.
He applauded the initiatives brought to the fore by the society and its leaders to key into the activities of the agency similar to its initiatives. He further assured the society of the agency’s willingness to collaborate and render support where necessary.
“These initiatives are Techies Hangout Initiative (THI), an event (online, physical, TV, radio) where information technology (IT) experts discuss trending and prospective IT business and youth development for the national economy, bringing to the table research and actionable efforts to resolve the issues.
“It will also feature start-up mentoring and collaborative development through sponsorship sourcing. Programmes like the Computer-4-Schools Initiative (C4SI), an initiative aimed at sourcing and distributing computers and other IT tools to public secondary schools in the FCT and its environs to build their skills in technology in the early stages; Directors and Head ICT (D/HICT) Conference, a two-day conference to engage heads of MDAs, directors of ICT departments/units and private sector to discuss related issues around ICT development in public and private spheres,” he added.
He asserted that the rule-making process regulation of NITDA allows organisations to participate in the development and also come up with regulations, standards, guidelines and frameworks for consideration by the agency.
