By Tanko Mohammed
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have agreed to set up a joint committee to boost local content development.
NCDMB made the announcement in a statement issued on Wednesday by its Corporate Communications Department on its official Twitter account.
The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote and the Director General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Abdullahi, were quoted as saying that the decision to set up the committee was reached after a meeting they held via Zoom platform on Tuesday.
The six-member committee will foster the agencies collaboration in the development of local content in information and communications technology, oil and gas industry and related sectors.
Wabote explained that the operations of the oil and gas industry relies heavily on artificial intelligence and information technology.
According to him, the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform might in the coming years be navigated remotely, without human occupants onboard while operating 150 kilometers offshore.
” There is a lot of opportunities to synergise and support what our respective agencies are doing.
“We have similar collaboration with Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Immigration Service, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice and other agencies and we undertake common projects.”
Wabote listed possible areas of collaboration to include the promotion of in-country production of motherboards, electronic components, system integration and assembly.
Other areas of collaboration include the mentoring of the beneficiaries of NCDMB sponsored GSM repair training, development of mobile applications and personal computer applications as well as the optimisation of the use of locally developed virtual meeting platforms.
Responding, Abdullahi described the planned inter agency team as an excellent idea, adding that NITDA shares information with several ministries, departments and agencies and operates with a flexible system.
Abdullahi stated that now was the perfect time for collaboration between NCDMB and NITDA that share similarities in their mandates, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic had compelled several sectors of the economy to digitalise their operations.
He identified capacity building as another possible area for collaboration between NCDMB and NITDA, indicating that personnel from about 100 government agencies were undergoing trainings currently at NITDA’s e-government centre in digital transformation.
