From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Federal Government is advancing its efforts to bolster cybersecurity in public service through its August edition of the DevsinGovt programme.
Launched in January, the DevsinGovt programme. aims to promote collaboration among IT professionals across government institutions, to enhance service delivery through technology.
Speaking at the event held over the weekend in Abuja, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr Kashifu Inuwah, explained that the August edition of the DevsinGovt programme was to strategically empower technology experts within government institutions to address the growing need for robust cybersecurity measures,
Represented by Emmanuel Edet, Acting Director of Standard Guidelines and Frameworks at NITDA, Inuwah said these professionals were tasked with strengthening existing systems, developing new security protocols, and ensuring that public sector data remains protected from cyber threats.
“The Dev-in-Government program is designed to put together developers working for federal government agencies at the moment in order to create a community of IT tech-savvy staff and share ideas on how to develop service delivery in government through technology.
“So, basically on a monthly basis we gather together, pick a theme, and then discuss on that theme in order to enhance our knowledge, share practices, and see how we can better use technology to deliver government services.
“The target is the entire MDAs in the federal government for now. The essence of this programme is not to address policy issues, but rather the essence of this program is to bring together tech ecosystem managers and operators and see how we can share ideas on how to use technology as a tool for better government service delivery,” he said.
Also speaking, Chinenye Chizea, Technical Lead and Security Architect, Nigeria Digital Identification for Development (ID4D) Project, emphasised the need for balance between technology, people, and processes in ensuring data integrity and protection.
Drawing an analogy to banking, Chizea explained that just as customers trust financial institutions due to their robust security measures, citizens should be able to trust the data managed by government institutions. This trust assurance, she noted, is a cornerstone of effective cybersecurity.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that our respective institutions maintain the integrity of their systems. Whatever network that the information needs to be on, we should be sure that proper access controls are in place. When we talk about systems, we should also know that in creating this trust, cyber security is not only about technology, it is also about the people.
“Data breaches are a significant risk, and while specifics may not always be available, we must remain proactive in our security measures,” she stated.