By John Okeke
The Country Director of the Korea International Cooperation Agency in Nigeria , Mr. Woochan Chang has tasked federal government to proactively implement the National eGovernment Master Plan in order to ensure digital transformation of the Nigerian economy.
Chang spoke in Abuja yesterday at the Inauguration of Chairmen of Digital Transformation Technical Working Groups (DT-TWGs) for the set of Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) .
“As we all know, the National eGovernment Master Plan is just a roadmap, but it is the actual implementation of the roadmap that will lead to the digital transformation that Nigeria wants to achieve and it is remarkable to see NITDA champion the course for the implementation of the National eGovernment Master Plan.”
He noted that the recently published UN e-Government Survey for the year 2020, Nigeria is still behind in eGovernment Development, adding ” Nigeria ranks 141 out of 193 countries, on the eGovernment Development Index behind Ghana (101) and Mauritius (63), which has the highest rating in the African region.”
“With this challenging statistics, I will like to use this opportunity to call for more actions from government that will elevate Nigeria’s ranking on the UN EGDI, particularly encouraging the DT-TWGs members who will be inaugurated today, to be champions of digital transformation within their various MDAs,” he said.
He said DT-TWG members are expected to coordinate the implementation of the National eGovernment Master Plan and the Nigerian Enterprise Architecture Framework in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy and any other digital transformation related activities in the public sector at the Federal level.
“Also, the eGovernment Presidential Committee is a critical success factor necessary for government digital transformation and as such, the full activation of this committee is expected to provide the political will, strategic leadership, and commitment, essential for the full implementation of the National eGovernment Master Plan,” he said.
“In closing, I would like to say that KOICA, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and NITDA have been valuable partners and as such, KOICA is ready to further consolidate on the partnership gains achieved so far, and support Nigeria’s government mission in the attainment of digital transformation,” he added.
Also , inaugurating the Committee by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy , Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim,he said the inauguration is apt taking cognizance of the challenges posed by Corona Virus pandemic .
He said the inauguration is in line with the President Muhammadu Buhari directive on digital transformation .
He urged the committee to work hard to defend the confidence reposed on them .
“We charge you to work hard to ensure the success of digital transformation. We urge you to work with various institutions to ensure the success of digital transformation.”
The Director General , National Information Technology Agency (NITDA), Inuwa Abdullahi said there is no better time to invest in the digital economy than now .
He said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to the implementation of digital transformation.
