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The Nigerian government is to strengthen collaboration with Microsoft Nigeria to implement the Cloud First Strategy in government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) following a new deal between the IT giant and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Director General, NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, disclosed this when he received a team from Microsoft Nigeria led by the new Country Manager, Mrs. Ola Williams in Abuja recently.
“With the emergence of a new country manager, we should look at areas we can work together for the betterment of our country Nigeria”, said Abdullahi.
“We are committed to aligning with the new government goals by transforming our agency and to achieve this, we need an organization like yours to do that”, said Abdullahi to Williams while stating that developmental regulation is one of the strategic pillars of the NITDA’s Strategic Road Map and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024 designed to induce innovations among service providers as well as end consumers.
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“Microsoft has been of great assistance in this regard by supporting development of the Cloud Computing Policy,” he added while stressing that
NITDA is pushing for Cloud First Strategy in government and will be counting on its collaboration with Microsoft to domesticate global practices across all MDAs.
“We have collaborated on the Nigerian Data Protection Regulations [NDPR] but we need to collaborate more in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy [NDEPS]”, Abdullahi averred.
The NITDA boss said the agency has been intensifying efforts on digital literacy with more than 2,400 youths already trained and another 7,200 people from 11 states expected to be trained on Microsoft productivity tools, digital content creation and digital marketing.
Digital literacy is one of the agency’s strategic pillars to help youths upscale their digital literacy skills and retain their jobs as Nigeria’s digital economy takes shape.
Nigeria is already working with Microsoft in using technology to enhance traditional processes and enhance value propositions as it concerns digital transformation, cyber security, digital innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Small and medium scale enterprises [SMEs] contribute up to 90% of the workforce and it is very important to use technology to create employment for our youths. We have so many initiatives with respect to this and I think you can be a key player”, Abdullahi told his visitors adding that NITDA will looking to support in areas that include Public Key Infrastructure (KPI) solution to boost Cloud First Strategies in government institutions and initiate a collaborative process on the acquisition of Microsoft Digital Certificates.
“Our visit here is as a result of your demonstration of contributions and impact to our organization and to solicit for more support and partnership to create a digital Nigeria”, said Williams while assuring the agency of her company’s support for the Cloud First Strategies and other solutions ti improve public service delivery.
