Thursday, October 3, 2013

Minister solicits states, local govts’ cooperation on tech development

 

Anthony Nwakaegho/DigitalSENSE Business News
The Minister of Communication Technology (CommTech), Mrs. Omobola Johnson, has solicited for the cooperation of the states and local governments in the country to complement the federal government approach in the technological development of the nation.
DigitalSENSE Business News reports that Johnson made the appeal at a recent industry gathering while explaining that except the local and state governments get actively involved in the initiatives so far made for the technological drive in the country, the sector would not make any head way.
 She pleaded that common areas of interests that could be explored include the implementation of the National Broadband plan, National Policy on Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Digital and financial inclusion, local content framework, use of frequency spectrum and National Strategic E-government framework and collection of data on ICT sector.
"There is no doubt that the states and local governments are in a good position to contribute their quota in this respect. State governments have more complete knowledge of their localities and can work closely with service providers in their respective states to identify where and what kinds of services should be made available and where there are underserved and unserved areas," she said.
DigitalSENSE Business News further gathered that the states are better placed to obtain accurate data for use of broadband and to continuously update and refresh the data provided by   service providers to make it more and more accurate over time.
She commended the government of Akwa Ibom, Edo, Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states for their bold steps in leveraging ICT for social and economic development in their states through projects and programmes that have truly impacted on the lives of the masses.
The CommTech Minister equally canvassed for others states in the country to embrace ICT initiatives through establishing dedicated institutional frameworks for coordinating ICT matters which could include the creation of ICT Ministries or ICT development agencies in the states.

... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
Pix: Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson

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