Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi has said the regulator is putting efforts to stimulate local demands that will further improve broadband penetration in Nigeria.
He was speaking Thursday at the ATCON Virtual Structured engagement with key stakeholders in the Nigerian Telecom and ICT Sector on the new National Broadband Plan 2020 -2025.
He noted that there is need to stimulate local demands for high speed internet in order to improve penetration in Nigeria.
“At NITDA we are implementing various initiatives aimed at facilitating the achievement of the target of 70% broadband penetration by 2025, some of these initiatives are:
i. Encouraging free domain registration for public institutions and SMEs through Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NIRA).
ii. Facilitating Digital Literacy Training and Awareness, Digital content creation and indigenous language translation.
iii. Effective digitization of Government services (e-Government) as well as other e-services.
iv. Deployment of IT intervention projects that facilitate Digital Literacy and Skills development.
v. Development of Nigeria Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) and Nigerian e-Govt Interoperability framework (Ne-GIF).
vi. Funding capacity building & Innovation initiatives to facilitate digital jobs creation.
vii. Establishment of National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).
viii. Establishment of National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (NDIEC) among others.”
According to Inuwa, this is especially important because “a study by Deloitte concludes that providing internet access to developing countries could boost productivity worldwide by 25%, generate $2.2 trillion in GDP, create 140 million new jobs, and lift 160 million people out of poverty. Hence, this suggests the significance and impact of realizing the 70% Broadband penetration in Nigeria to contribute in attaining such feats.”
The DG thank ATCON for organising the event and urged all stakeholders the ensure Nigeria fully realise Broadband 5-year plans.
