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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) are to explore areas of collaboration for digital transformation of the country’s transportation industry.
According to the Director General of the NITDA, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, digital transformation will define the transportation industry in Nigeria and it is now critical to align the country’s transportation agenda with trends in global digital transformation.
Abdullahi who spoke, while receiving the Director General/CEO of the NITT, Dr. Bayero Salih Farah and his team to NITDA corporate headquarters in Abuja, added that emerging technology creates avenues for digital transformation which could impact significantly on the transportation industry.
The NITDA’s boss expressed confidence that a collaboration between the two agencies will help to better leverage opportunities in digital or emerging technology.
“Emerging technology is currently disrupting transportation models; cars are transforming from being mechanical to automated vehicles. We now have auto drones and even auto pilots. Today’s world is driven by data, research, and development,” said the NITDA’s boss.
He cited the recent launching of the first locally assembled Hyundai KONA Electric Vehicle by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) as a step towards embracing the emerging technology trends across the globe.
Dr. Farah expressed confidence that an alliance with the NITDA would foster greater development in ICT within his institute, and the country as the end users.
He assured that he was looking to partnering with the IT regulatory agency particularly as the institute was already working on expansion through the opening of a Transport Intelligence Centre (TIC).
The NITDA’s boss revealed that in line with the digital transformation agenda, the Aagency constituted the Digital Transformation Technical Working Groups (DTTWG) in each ministry, department and agency (MDA) and the organization designated one of the DTTWG members as its Data Protection Officer.
He said in line with its mandate, NITDA is creating a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation, and regulation of IT practices in Nigeria.
While applauding the NITT proposal to open a transport intelligence centre as a good initiative, he said NITDA also recently commissioned its own National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).
His words: “The NCAIR Centre is intended to provide facilities that would encourage inquisitive perspectives and opportunities to create and develop initiatives.”
The centre is expected to attend to trainings, design and print prototype of drones, robots, among others, “and this would be of immense benefit to NITT,” he added in anticipation of collaboration with the transportation agency.
