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From Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
Director General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has said that its local content regulations efforts raised patronage of locally assembled devices to 355,647 in 2017.
He revealed that in 2015 indigenous Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) sold only 98,224 units of their products, while about 154,424 were sold in 2016. But the patronage soared to 355,647 in 2017.
Pantami made this disclosure at the weekend in Abuja while presenting five of NITDA’s regulatory instruments geared towards the development of information technology practice in Nigeria.
He explained that the agency’s team has painstakingly and tirelessly researched and consulted widely during the development of these instruments before realising them.
According to him, the first of the regulatory instruments is the rule-making process of NITDA that stipulates a clear process for rule making in issuance of frameworks, standards and guidelines.
He said this is to ensure that a defined best practice approach to rule making is utilised by NITDA to develop sound instrument for regulation of IT.
The second instrument according to him is the Nigeria data protection regulation of NITDA issued pursuant to Section 6(c) of the NITDA Act 2007, which empowers the agency to issue regulations and monitor the use of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic communications on all matters pertaining to government, commerce as well as the private and public sectors.
He said the guidelines for clearance of information technology projects is the third of the regulations which will be applicable to all public institutions, including MDAs, federal institutions and Federal Government-owned companies. These guidelines set forth a process to guide federal institutions in procuring information technology goods and services.
Others include “transparent government wide information system” at all levels to ensure non-duplication of IT projects and promotion of shared services, among others. This also includes the framework and guidelines for Public Internet Access (PIA), which provides a framework and guidelines for provider of public internet access services to maintain appropriate systems and policies to protect Nigerians who use these services.
The Nigeria data protection guidelines is not left out which empowers the agency to issue guidelines to ensure appropriate systems and practices are in place for the use of IT as a resource and to issue regulatory policies that encourage investment in it. The last is the framework and guidelines for the use of social media platforms in public institutions.
The DG explained that in some cases, due to the absence of clear policies by federal institutions, important information and records are lost when handlers of these platforms either move from their roles or leave the organisations and this constitutes a risk to information management and public accountability.
He informed that the agency will continue to monitor the use of social media for federal public institutions to ensure consistency and professional use of these platforms.
