By 
The Nigerian government has started the second phase of digital capacity training for civil servants in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs). The two-day training Executive Course II is organised by the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.
About 400 workers from 100 MDAs are participating in The Digital Transformation Technical Working Group (DT-TWG) training designed as part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s digital transformation agenda.
According to Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, at the opening of the training sessions, government sees public sector digitisation as an integral part of governance in order to succeed and compete globally; it was therefore imperative to train staff of MDAs on whose shoulders rests the ability to make governance productive to the people.
In the existing digital economic era, digital governance has become critical to achieving the goals of government, added Pantami said to underscore the need for the DT-TWGs for which the trainings are modeled.
His words: “The digital economy is developing at a remarkable rate and it has been widely accepted as the single most important driver of innovation, competitiveness, and growth.
“It is now the highest driver of innovation and transformation in the public sector. The digital economy is fundamentally transforming the way the public sector operates and delivers services to customers to sustain our economy and compete globally.
“The failure of IT projects is also being experienced by a number of Federal Public Institutions (FPIs). This is largely due to the lack of appropriate digital governance structure either at the individual organisation level or government-wide.
“Digital Transformation Technical Working Group (DT-TWG) will be required to ensure all ICT and digital technologies related policies and regulations are adhered to by their organisation in a manner that enables national development.
The central theme of the training is: “Strengthening the Digital Economy Drive in Nigeria’s Federal Public Sector Using Galaxy Backbone’s Digital Services Platform.”
According to the CEO/managing Director of Galaxy Backbone, Prof. Mohammed Abubakar, the beneficiaries were carefully selected to enable them provide the foundational skill required to digitally transformed their respective agencies. The public service is the engine room for the implementation of government policies and programmes, and civil servants are therefore, expected to have required capacities to drive implement all government goals.
“By virtue of responsibilities, you are to coordinate the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), National e-Government Master Plan (NeGMP) and any digital transformation-related activities in the public sector at the federal level. “You are to ensure that all IT projects are designed and implemented in accordance with the provision of the Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture (NGEA) and the Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (NeGIF),’’ said Abubakar.
For Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the trainees will undergo 12 training modules covering different aspects digital transformation and gov.ng domain management, among other.
He assured the participants of NITDA’s support as they “ journey towards digital transformation.”
