By IJEOMA OLORUNFEMI

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has unveiled the second phase of the Nigerian e-Government Master Plan to ensure transparency in governance.

Mr Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of NITDA, while unveiling the master plan on Monday in Abuja, said it was toward ensuring seamless and inclusive access to digital services.

The unveiling was also held with the handing over of deliverables to the Chief Executive Officers of NITDA, National Identity Management Commission, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).

Represented by Mr Oladejo Olawunmi, Director, IT Infrastructure Solutions, Inuwa, said that the event symbolised the implementation of the first phase of the Nigerian e-Government master plan.

He recalled that the first phase was sponsored by the joint implementer, the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

“The event aims to strengthen the progress made so far and to properly position the general government enterprise architecture as a cornerstone of building the foundation for digital governance in Nigeria.

“Under the Strategic Road Map and Action Plan, which was named SRAP 2.0, the pillar of infrastructure in the project is committed to ensuring seamless and inclusive access to digital services.

“The enterprise architecture is a disciplined way of organising enterprise resources, which includes business processes, data, information, tech, and finance, among others.

“This is designed to provide the capabilities required to consistently achieve the outcome of the organisations’ functions and mandates,’’ he said.

According to him, it specifies the principles, practices, standards, and policies that guide the way capabilities enable IT to evolve and continue to deliver results that transcend administrations, politics, and the economy.

He explained that the present administration was committed to utilising ICT to drive transparency in government, as well as improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of public service delivery.

He further said that NITDA, in line with its mandate, had developed the Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture as part of the implementation of the first phase of the Nigerian e-government master plan.

Inuwa mentioned that the implementation led to the development of some programmes and initiatives.

“It led to the clearing of many IT projects, improvement of the National IT Clearance policy drive, IT systems and digital services assessment of 200 federal and public institutions.

“It saw the development of the Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture portal, and the establishment of the Digital Transformation Technical Working Group (DTTWG) in 100 federal and public institutions.

“There was training of 442 members of the DTTWG and engagement of 10 FPIs under digital transformation performance and readiness,” he said.

He added that the Nigerian Government Enterprise Architecture was a critical factor in the implementation of the e-government-related regulatory instruments.

The D-G further explained that the Nigerian e-government framework was designed to enable interoperability between all the services provided by the government.

He also said that the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) was key to the present administration’s drive towards making government services integrated among themselves, among other tools.

Mr Songil Son, the Korean International Corporation Agency’s (KOICA’s) Country Director, stated that the project had four components.

Son explained that NITDA was coordinating the whole process, adding that so much progress had been recorded.

Earlier, representatives of NCS, and NIS, took turns to express their optimism on how the values outlined in the guide and digital governance would ease service delivery, and ensure inclusivity and transparency.

They gave assurances that they would be committed to leveraging the framework as a catalyst for achieving Nigeria’s strategic aspirations. (NAN)

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