FG urged by innovators to apply system thinking in policymaking

From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja

Stakeholders in the Innovation science and technology sector have called on federal government and policy makers to apply system thinking and system dynamics in public policy making in Nigeria.

They made this request in a three day workshop, in Abuja themed “Application of System Thinking and System Dynamics for Transforming Public Policymaking Processes in Nigeria,’’.

The Director General,National Center for Technology Management,( NACETEM) said that application of system thinking is critical in identifying and addressing challenges in the society.

Dr Odusanya explained most national problems would have been diverted if policy makers applied system thinking and system dynamics while making the laws.

He added that NACETEM is going totally digital, stressing that digitalisation would save Nigeria from spending five billion Naira annually on purchase of papers,lost of files and votes manipulation during elections.

He said ” you see what is happening in the immigration service. We are having our passports better available, faster, and all of that.Now, we need to integrate all these digital systems. The plan for that is fundamental, basic digital literacy.

People need to be digitally literate in order to migrate into these systems.We save a lot of money by not having files, paper, and all of that that gets missing. And once you have an interaction with the digital system, it never gets erased. You don’t vote and not vote.Your ballot paper doesn’t get lost because you have casted that vote, you have created that thing, and that thing has happened to you. So many opportunities come as a result of digitalization.

Unfortunately for us over the years, we have lost our paper industry.Even the technology of making paper, we seem to have lost it. But now we stand here. The opportunity exists for us to digitize many of the things that we are doing.So we can start by making our forms available in digital formats, making many of the services available in digital form so that they become more efficient. ”

He further added that the world has gone scientific and digital, pointing that teachers should be taught on how to make STEM subjects interesting.

The President of the African University of Science and Technology,(AUST), professor Azikiwe Peter Onwualu, in his welcome address lamented that lack of system thinking responsible for Nigeria’s major challenges.

He emphasized that the importance of system thinking can not be overlooked both in individual and organisational structures.

“The issue of systems thinking , I think it is one of the major problems we have in this country.That many times we take decisions without looking at the entire system.

Anybody that’s in any management position will tell you that the biggest headache you have is dealing with issues of looking at your organization as a system. You may be trying to do something that is good, and if you don’t take care of the entire system, that good thing you are doing may result in something negative in another direction.”

Speaking on the collaboration with NACETEM, professor Onwualu said The collaboration is a very cherished one, not just because the CEO is a member of the institution but becaus