Government agency representatives and stakeholders including Muhammad Nami; executive chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Umar Garba Danbatta; executive vice chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission, and Olusola Teniola; president, Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), are gearing up to discuss and deliberate new and effective e-Government strategies and policies for the development of Nigeria.
Discussions and paper presentations at the summit will address the effect of COVID-19 on the Nigerian economy and help retool the economy for accelerated deployment, designed to boost government’s online presence.
Nami who would be joined by some of the management team from FIRS, including Zainab Gobir, is expected to deliver the keynote address.
Other keynote speakers include: Kayode Fayemi; chairman, Governor’s forum and the governor of Ekiti State, Omobola Johnson; Board member MTN and former minister of communications, Sehinde Oladapo; managing director, GMT Energy and chairman NAHCO, and Isa Ibrahim Pantami; minister for communications and digital economy. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos State is the host governor.
The annual Nigeria eGovernment summit, scheduled to hold November 17 in Lagos has the theme: COVID-19: ‘Impetus for Accelerated Adoption of eGovernment.’
Different panel sessions have been lined up with sub-themes like: The Roles of Government Agencies in Advancing the National eGovernment Plan; The State of eGovernment and Critical Success Factors in Specified Countries; Positioning Telecoms Infrastructure for eGovernment Deployment; Partnering Government for Development of Sustainable eGovernment Services; Datacentre and Co-location Infrastructure as Enabler of eGovernment Deployment, among others.
“Each panel will consist of panelists from relevant fields of studies and would be chaired by professionals with deep knowledge of the subject matter,” the organisers have promised.
Lanre Ajayi, the executive chairman, DigiServe Network Services, and convener of the summit, said: “We are assembling world-class technology experts and solution providers to share their experiences and showcase latest innovations applicable to eGovernment service deployment. We are also inviting top government officials not only to learn from experts but also to share their own experience and showcase the state of eGovernment services deployment in their respective governance domains.”
Ajayi said the ongoing pandemic brought to the fore the significant roles technologies can play in our lives. Without much advocacy, citizens migrated a number of their daily activities online. Commerce moved online with many people now buying and selling on the internet, students now obtain lessons online, even patients are consulting with doctors online.
He said technologies have served Nigerians very well in the trying period of the pandemic in many more areas including governance, such that governments now hold cabinet meetings online and taxes are now be paid online. He however expressed his worries over the slow rate of adoption of technologies in governance, hoping that the summit will help proffer practical solutions to speed up adoption.
