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Collaboration is the major driver of sustainable innovation and growth, the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has expressed as he enjoined stakeholders in the ecosystem to work together to move the sector forward.
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Abdullahi spoke at the just ended Innovation Support Network (ISN) 2023 Annual Gathering in Abuja which held with the theme “Unlocking Potential: Collaborating for Growth and Impact.”
He said the tech industry thrives on collaboration and over 60% of global innovation now involves some form of cross-organisational collaboration.
“A 2020 report by Microsoft indicates that over 95% of Fortune 500 companies rely on Microsoft Cloud services, illustrating how digital collaboration is driving business operations and innovation,” said the NITDA’s boss. He was represented at the event by the National Coordinator, Office of the Nigerian Digital Innovation ONDI, Yakubu Musa.
This year’s ISN gathering was designed to encourage and strengthen collaboration towards assisting innovators in discovering efficient solutions to the various problems confronting the country across different sectors.
According to him, technological advancements are helping societies to develop interconnected networks of cooperation which helps to accomplish more and improve the quality of life, thus allowing us to use these platforms to access ecosystems, talents, and information that are democratizing knowledge.
“These statistics are indicative of the fact that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected, interdependent, and collaborative. Therefore, collaboration is no longer an option, but a necessity for progress and growth,” said Abdullahi even as he assured stakeholders of NITDA’s commitment to partnership.
Adding: “Through strategic local and international relationships, NITDA has continued to work towards the realization of its overarching mandates. And, through numerous collaborative efforts, we have co-created enabling policies and regulatory instruments, as well as implemented programmes and initiatives for the sustainable development of Nigeria’s digital economy.”
He said in order to deepen its collaboration with the ecosystem, NITDA created two special purpose vehicles (SPVs): the Office for Nigerian Innovation (ONDI) and the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).
The two SPVs have helped to drive collaborations with stakeholders in implementing programmes such as the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (TIES) Scheme, the iHatch Startup Incubation Programme, amongst others, said Abdullahi as he expressed confidence in NITDA’s collaborative efforts to foster creativity and innovation to help the entrepreneurs convert digital innovation and entrepreneurship to greater values.
