By Ijeoma Olorunfemi
The Federal Government on Tuesday inaugurated the Technical Working Group (TWG) on the implementation of the National Data Strategy (NDS) for digital economy growth.
The inauguration of the group, championed by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in Abuja, was also to launch some of the tools needed to implement the NDS initiatives.
Dr Williams Alo, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, said at the inauguration that government played diverse roles in ensuring data utilisation.
Alo said that the government ensured access to data and availability, data privacy and protection, data governance, among other functions.
“The overall government’s responsibility in data utilisation is to strike a balance between promoting data-driven innovation and protecting individual rights, privacy and societal wellbeing.
“This is done by establishing appropriate regulatory instruments such as the NDS and promoting responsible data practices, harness the power of data for the benefit of the society,’’ the permanent secretary said.
He further said that to harness the full potential of data, government institutions must collaborate across sectors, share data to avoid working in silos and duplication of functions.
“Today, we will create an inclusive and participatory environment that fosters innovation and empowers our people,” Alo said.
The permanent secretary said that the NDS would guide the nation to identifying new opportunities, optimise existing processes and make informed decisions that accelerate economic growth.
“Today, we can build a connected data ecosystem that unlocks new opportunities for Nigeria because NDS will promote societal growth and drive inclusive development,’’ he said.
Earlier, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, the Director-General of NITDA, said that data was the driver of every digital economy and the NDS implied that Nigeria was ready for it.
Inuwa recalled that the NDS was launched in March 2022, and had seven pillars including Data Literacy and Skills, Data Security and Data sovereignty.
“We need to train our citizens with prerequisite skills to build our economy through data and for social gains.
“The more information you have about something, the more control you have over that thing, so we need to secure our data at whatever stage it is, ensuring privacy and protection.
“Data sovereignty looks at the data localisation, data transfer, hosting of all our data locally or considering if it will be partially hosted locally,’’ he said.
Other pillars he mentioned were Data availability to researchers, innovators for development of services, Data infrastructure which would ensure connectivity, broadband penetration.
He added that Data harmonisation and Data usability were also the pillars of the NDS.
“Many Ministries, Departments and Agencies collect data and we should have a situation whereby the National Identity Management Commission should provide the primary data as a pool.
“The TWG should look at ways to harmonise our data so we can have a central data repository system,’’ Inuwa said.
The director-general urged the group to brainstorm on ways to standardise data in the country to ensure hitchfree integration and which would help regulatory agencies and Nigerians benefit from data economy. (NAN)
