Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, director general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has advocated robust investments by the government and critical stakeholders in the sector to enable Nigeria to compete favourably with top economies of the world and become competitive in the new digital economy.
Pantami, who stated this in Abuja at the official presentation of the Nigeria Smart Initiatives Policy Framework (NSIPF) draft to stakeholders, said Nigeria needs to make conscious and practical efforts to improve investments in tech industry.
He explained that in view of the new digital economy fuelled by technological innovation with advances in Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Internet of Everything, it has become imperative for Nigeria to adapt very quickly to technological changes or risk being left behind by top economies of the world.
According to him,” African governments especially Nigeria standing as a regional leader will need to proactively do something about the new economy and its policy challenges in preparing for the disruption and pressure it brings to societies especially in the areas of job and economic opportunities.
“The imperative here is that we cannot allow this country to continue to run a “catching up” race in this critical sector.
We acknowledge the great challenges ahead especially in the areas of investment and funding, infrastructure and resources, standards and architecture, interoperability, insecurity and privacy, but we must collectively agree to take the risks.
“Going forward therefore, NITDA as the country IT regulator and developer will be working tirelessly with relevant stakeholders to mitigate the influence of known and unknown challenges in this area.”
Commenting of the objectives of the NSIPF for promoting smart initiatives in Nigeria, he explained that it is basically to grow smart-enabled resources and build a vibrant smart data economy.
