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Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdulahhi, has stressed the importance of leveraging the vast opportunities in space technology to achieve digital transformation in Nigeria.
Abdullahi spoke today in Abuja while hosting delegates from the Nigerian Institute of Space Engineers (NISEng) led by its National Chairman, Dr. Okpanachi George.
The NITDA boss said that it is a good development for federal government agencies to partner with private organisations, adding that NITDA, as the IT regulator in the country, has put in place policies and created an enabling environment for innovations to advance the agenda for a Digital Nigeria.
Abdullahi said that contrary to beliefs that satellites are becoming obsolete, emerging technologies are now helping to transform the space technology ecosystem, opening a new chapter for untapped opportunities across industries.
He assured that the NITDA was ready to partner with the NISEng as collaboration drives innovations. Notably, since space technology exists everywhere and encompasses communications, agriculture and security industries among others, such collaborations will impact across sectors.
According to him, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics play a key role in the digital space and NITDA through its National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) will collaborate with the NISEng to come up with ideas which will transform the country through initiatives centering on capacity building, research and development, blockchain, and AI among other innovations.
Okpanachi, while commending Abdullahi for asserting NITDA’s role as a IT regulator and development agency, expressed the willingness of the NISEng to partner with it particularly in the area of professional development.
