Experts Emphasise Data Protection Impact on Economy

Omolabake Fasogbon

Experts have called for strengthened efforts against data compromise in the interest of businesses and the economy at large. 

The experts who spoke at a privacy conference (Privcon) in Lagos, recently, stressed the economic impacts of data protection which they said contributed up to N5.5 billion to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

At the conference, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) facilitated a workshop to offer clarity on its recently issued proactive guidance notice, highlighting the obligation for data controllers and processors of major importance to register with the commission. 

The workshop with theme, ‘Guidance Notice from Regulator’s perspective,’ saw the commission clarifying categories of organisations ‘deemed of particular value or significance to the economy, society, or security of Nigeria” as data controllers and processors of major importance. 

The workshop which was well attended by critical stakeholders was sponsored by UK Nigeria Tech Hub and Tech4Dev  in in alignment with their aim of convening practitioners to forge collaborations for development and growth   Science Tech Innovation and Research,STI&R ecosystem. 

Convener of PRIVCON, Olumide Babalola, noted that proliferation of digital technologies and the increasing volume of generated personal data posed a great challenge to data security, privacy and data protection

He said, “This kind of platform will allow stakeholders and everyone involved in the space to begin to have meaningful conversations on how we develop the policy around data protection and how to influence policy change and arrive at more economic benefits.” 

Also, former Attorney General, Delta State, Isaiah Bozimo said, “We are now in a digital age, we have things like generative AI that are moving at a very quick pace and if we don’t keep up by having these conversations around personal data, eventually we are going to be left behind. We must know what the principal issues are at stake, what measures do we need to protect our data and why is it important. Most importantly how we can use data in moving our nation forward in a digital economy”, he said.