Patani, Aderounmu, Abubakar providing roadmap for sustainable digital Inclusion

Success Damian:

Governor Ajimobi of Oyo State  (l) receiving Digital Governor Award from Prof. Aderounmu, NCS President in Ibadan

The 27^th National Conference of the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS) which held recently at the International Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, has come and gone, but the echoes and frills have continued to reverberate for sustainable Digital Inclusion.

Themed Digital Inclusion: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies, the conference afforded stakeholders the platform to have in-depth discussions on such topics and sub-themes which include but not limited to Infrastructure and Disruptive Innovation: Connecting the Unconnected; Inclusive e-Government: Citizens, Poverty Eradication and Job Creation; A Smart and Digital Maritime Sector: Opportunities for Sustainable Growth and Overall Prosperity, among other highly impactful plenaries.

Engr. Aliyu Aziz Abubakar, Director General/CEO, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) spoke on Impact of Digital Technology/Inclusion, Barriers in terms of Digital Divide, Bridging the Digital Divide and Benefits of Digital Inclusion.

Abubakar stated that for understanding what Digital Inclusion means one would be looking at access to digital technologies, mobile phones, computers, tablets, the internet, a broadband connection, ability to make use of technologies, having basic digital skills, skills that empower individuals to adapt and exploit technology.

Abubakar said access to the Internet is currently unevenly distributed amongst the Nigerian population, adding that older people are less likely to be Internet users than younger people.

In understanding Digital Inclusion he said “We are living through one of the greatest inflexion points in history, largest forces acting on the planet: Technology; Globalization; and Climate Change, all accelerating at once; these are reshaping many aspects of the society, workplace and geopolitics.”

He said digital inclusion has facilitated improved  Economic tools; Multimedia Communication which has improved efficiency, transforming service delivery and in Education, e-learning, global knowledge is available locally; digital skills are acquired very early which include coding in primary school, basic engineering and statistics in secondary schools; and in Health, he said there is Tele-medicine which is delivering health solutions to remote areas in cost- effective way.

On Barriers to Digital Inclusion, he said the term ‘Digital Divide’ include patterns of unequal access to ICT based on income, race, ethnicity, gender, age, and geography that surfaced during the mid-1990s when the Internet made steady progress

Speaking on the nexus between Digital Inclusion and work of his agency he said, “Identity is a requisite for a country’s economic, social and political progress and development. Good identification works hand-in-hand with greater use of Internet, payments and skills for a vibrant digital economy. NIMC offers digital identification through the enrollment & issuance of a unique identifier called National Identification Number (NIN),” Abubakar said.

Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said the whole idea about digital inclusion is to make ICT available to people and give them the skill to utilize it, adding that “All the policy standards of NITDA and interventions are  geared towards digital inclusion especially on wide area network which has been provided to higher institutions, virtual library to higher institutions, capacity building and knowledge building centres, computer job creation, all of them are part of digital inclusion, it is all about providing facilities and the skills, to operate.”

Aside the discussion on digital inclusion Pantami used the opportunity to intimate the audience that the agency is collaborating with some universities to introduce ICT law as a course in Nigerian Universities starting from Master degree programme up to PhD level.

“Because of the fact that we do not have a course of ICT law in our universities in Nigeria and all regulatory agencies in Nigeria require ICT lawyers to come. If you look critically the mandate of NITDA, it centres around two fundamental issues, One IT development, two IT Regulation.

“IT development you always develop IT using IT professionals, computer Scientists, Computer Engineers and many more. They are IT professionals, while you regulate the sector, by deploying ICT lawyers, if you have IT lawyers around, then you can regulate the sector, so that is why we introduce ICT as a course in our universities, so that the country can produce many people who can regulate the sector and write many legal documents, on behalf of the sector, set standards, guideline, framework, and even policies, for ICT adoption, deployment and usage all over the country,” Pantami stated.

Prof. Adesola Aderounmu, NCS President stated that the group as the umbrella body of all IT Professionals, Interest Groups and Stakeholders in Nigeria, the Nigeria Computer Society keeps utilizing the platform of the annual National Conferences to advance the science, practice and propagation of ICT for the wholesome development of society.

The President said while IT deployment and development in our country continue to gain traction, experiences and benefits of IT and the Internet have not been as widespread as they should be, adding that the consequence is that women, individuals living with disabilities, young people, the poor and the rural populace have become extensively digitally excluded.

Challenging the participants, Aderounmu said “As Nigeria lags behind the rest of the world in digital inclusion, it is our professional challenge in this conference to share ideas and insights, identify knowledge gaps, proffer solutions and instigate collaborative efforts to quicken the pace of digital inclusion forward for our country.”

Calling on government for workable ICT policy he said “Government should quickly formulate ICT policy that will incorporate digital inclusion as a pivotal factor for driving our social economic and political development. The new policy should cover ICT infrastructure, broadband internet, fibre optic communication, local content prioritization and regulatory framework.”

He disclosed this year’s conference theme is in line with the Communique of the NCS’ 2017 conference, adding “When the nation is able to set the proper digital inclusion agenda that the government can adopt and run with, it will significantly improve healthcare, poverty reduction, job creation, education, governance, food security and social harmony in the society.”

The Conferences Committee Chairman, Jide Awe in his welcome address, lent his voice to the call for digital inclusion when he said, ‘Benefits of digital technologies are not evenly distributed. Concerns and causes are multi-dimensional. Exclusion is costly where many lack access to digital infrastructure and the benefits it offers due to affordability and other issues.” He said Inclusion remained the cornerstone for successful digital development.