The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Musa Istifanus, added that while Countries all over the world are actively creating and fostering transformational innovation on how to remain in business during this period of COVID-19, the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and its Agencies are well ahead of time by creating an enabling environment for Public and Private Sector of the economy to thrive through the launching of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy 2020-2030 being the roadmap for the implementations of the National Economy and Strategy Development as well as the National Broadband Plan 2020-2030.
He stated this while chairing this year’s first-ever virtual edition of the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum.
The Permanent Secretary noted that the activities of the forum are important in no small measure to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, and would also afford him the opportunity to listen and learn from the various experts that would be present at this year’s event.
The 9th edition of the Nigeria Internet Governance Forum 2020 (NIGF-2020) with the theme “Achieving Inclusive Digital Economic Development in the post-COVID-19 Era” was held recently in Abuja. This year’s edition was held virtually due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
He noted that this year’s edition is being held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic and this has demonstrated that the whole world can be connected as an indication that we are leveraging digital technologies to cushion the effect of the pandemic.
He emphasized that the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has been a key Stakeholder in the Internet Governance Ecosystem since 2012 when the NIGF was formed and each year, the Ministry partners key stakeholders in hosting the National IGF to strengthen Nigeria’s position towards the annual Regional and Global IGFs.
The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, represented by the Director, E- Government Development and Regulation, Dr. Vincent Olatunji said the event is apt in that it presented a new era for which it is important for the government to ensure that the infrastructure required to keep governance running are on ground and functioning until a time when government organizations fully come on board”.
According to the Director-General, the campaign to move government businesses online has now become a reality. He added that there was no other choice than for the government to deliver its services online which could only be achieved with corporate internet.
Abdullahi noted that with the pandemic, working remotely has become the norm in the country and world over. He said, whether you are a developed or developing nation, public or private sector, you don’t have any choice but to use the internet to deliver on your services.
