NITDA, Microsoft Partner to Boost ICT Innovation, Adoption

Emma Okonji

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Microsoft Nigeria, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen Information and Communications Technology (ICT) innovation and adoption in the country.
The partnership will see both NITDA and Microsoft collaborate in ICT development and innovation in Nigeria, particularly in the areas of cloud policies, data protection and privacy laws and data classification frameworks.

NITDA mandate is to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices in Nigeria. The Nigerian Government priorities include anti-corruption drive, security, private sector led economic growth and job creation, youth training and skills development. Technology will be at the heart of driving and building a digital economy which will bring these priorities to fruition.

Speaking on the collaboration, NITDA’s Director-General/CEO, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Microsoft; as regulators, our mandate is to create the right policies that foster innovation and help build a robust digital economy. Nigeria is a forward-thinking economy and one which is ready to compete in the 4th industrial revolution by having policies which drive growth and encourage investments.”

He further added, “This is a positive move towards digitalisation of government processes and provides a tremendous opportunity to scale up citizen’s access to services and concurrently improve the quality of services.”

The General Manager Microsoft Nigeria, Akin Banuso said:
‘‘We are excited to collaborate with NITDA. Microsoft is committed to providing technology you can trust; we have been actively involved in discussions with governments around the world to digitally transform and are also frequently asked by governments to identify best practices for moving to the cloud; we are honoured to be able to work with the Nigerian government on this framework.”

According to him, the collaboration would aim to foster detailed discussions of recent regulatory and policy development, including global best practices, to create cloud regulatory frameworks appropriate for driving innovation and improve how the public sector operates and delivers citizen services.
NITDA and Microsoft agreed to set up a joint working group for the collaboration.