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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government on Monday signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Government of Nigeria and Huawei Technologies Company, Nigeria Limited for the second phase of the Information Communications Technology (ICT) for Change Programme.
So far, about 2,000 Nigerian Youths and 1,000 Federal Civil Servants across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been trained, since it started in 2019.
In this second phase, participants having progressed beyond basic ICT knowledge in the earlier stage of the programme, will expand topics to focus on areas including: ICT Development Trends; E-Government for the Future; 5G Motivation and Industry Progress; Cyber Security Strategies; Project Management Principles and Practices; Web Design and Maintenance Training; and Microsoft Office Training among others.
According to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who signed on behalf of the Federal Government, while commending Huawei Technologies for this laudable initiative and the successful implementation of the first and second phase of this programme, said it demonstrated the Federal Government’s commitment to private sector partnership to propel the implementation of its policies and programmes.
According to him the use of ICT has kept government in business including virtual holding of the federal executive council meeting for two years notwithstanding COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted the health of global economies.
Mustapha said: “It is common knowledge that the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the health of global economies and brought in its wake new ways of conducting businesses including government transactions. Necessity evolved novel ways and means to provide solutions based on advanced technological developments. Governments have also keyed into the upsurge in technological pursuits in science and technology.
“The Nigerian model Civil Service has not fared differently and recognises the role of technology in the ongoing transformation of the Nigerian Civil Service. In this regard, the establishment of an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution as one of the 8 thematic areas of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, was devised as a means to digitize records and automate workflow processes to achieve an overall improvement in information sharing and collaboration across the MDAs. “This, I know has been piloted in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and is being rolled out to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“The signing of this MoU signifies the continued healthy relations between the Federal Government and the private sector as represented by Huawei Technologies in the areas of ICT capacity development in the Federal Civil Service. Essentially, the ICT for Change programme seeks to train and empower 1,000 Federal Civil Servants across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). It is the second phase in the capacity building programme for federal civil servants organized by Huawei Technologies. The first phase of the programme which was held from 14th January – 28th June, 2019 led to the training of 935 participants across 101 MDAs.”
The SGF said in this phase of the programme, the trainers will consolidate on the gains of the last one to imbue participants with the skills to efficiently handle the demands of an increasingly digital economy transformation, e-governance and smart cities.
“As it was with the first phase, this phase will also take off with the constitution of an Implementation Task Team (ITT) comprising officials from this Office, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation and Huawei Technologies, that will be responsible for: Determine an agreeable and impactful course content; Selection of candidates; Provide regular updates on the implementation of the programme; and Undertake a post-programme evaluation of milestones reached and overall outcome.”
In his remark, Chairman/Managing Director
Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited, Trevor Liu quoted President Muhammedu Buhari as saying “technology in public service delivery is no longer a luxury, but a pressing necessity”.
He said Buhari’s commented necessitated collective effort to hardness unity and teamwork to achieve the ICT transformation desired.
Liu said: “Huawei’s “ICT FOR CHANGE” initiative is targeted at empowering Civil Servants with Fundamental ICT knowledge and skills. This immerse training will equip them with the rapid advancement of ICT technology and the increase demand for digital transformation, e-government and smart city capabilities, will significantly improve the efficiency in public service and benefit to digital economic development. Our target is to provide free ICT knowledge training to 1,000 Civil Servants.”
