The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has sought the collaboration of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to develop the Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry to enable it to contribute about 50 per cent to the GDP
In keeping with President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s efforts to diversify the economy, NITDA acting director general Vincent Olatunji met with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to explore areas of mutual collaboration.
The meeting identified possible areas of collaboration between the two agencies for the review of the National ICT4D Policy, the smart city initiatives and capacity building for startups Nigerian university graduates, among others.
Olatunji said that ICT is one of the few options the government has to diversify the economy and that building capacity using ICT to improve productivity and service delivery was imperative. He also pointed out as the IT regulatory body that oversees the development of the ICT industry in Nigeria for steady growth, NITDA has the potential to increase the integration of ICTs across all sectors and under-served communities and supports economic diversification. The NITDA has identified the challenges of ICT and the need for multi stakeholder partnership to brainstorm and formulate policies to drive the sector, he added.
NCC executive vice chairman and CEO Danbatta on his part affirmed NCC’s willingness to collaborate with NITDA for effective and efficient service delivery to the public in job creation in ICT.
Danbatta said that the combined mandate of both agencies, if pursued with vigour, could lead to rapid transformation of the ICT sector. Olatunji commented that ICT is a major option for economic diversification, capacity building, improved productivity and service delivery for Nigeria to cope with the present economic situation.
