2860 new job roles created by data-protection efforts – NITDA

Not less than 2860 new job roles have been created by the data protection efforts of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Director-General of the agency, Dr. Kashifu Abdullahu has said.

Abdullahi made the assertion at the annual Digital Africa Conference with the theme “Africa’s post-pandemic High Tech World”, noting that the agency’s National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) project aimed at “generating five million smart agriculture jobs across the value-chain is witnessing tremendous success.”

The NITDA helmsman, who was represented by the Director, IT Infrastructure Solutions, Dr. Usman Gambo Abdullahi says the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown up new opportunities and possibilities unlocked by digitalisation, noting that the importance of a digital-enabled economy cannot be overemphasized.

“In the face of COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on business, governance, and society, NITDA has been playing its role to ensure the opportunities presented are maximised for the optimum benefit for Nigerians.

“We have organised Hackathons to discover innovative solutions and give our start-ups an opportunity to scale their ideas. Our Virtual Learning Programme of the NITDA Academy for Research and Training has so far attracted over 25,000 participants with over 22,000 active sessions. Our National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) project aimed at generating five million smart agriculture jobs across the value-chain is witnessing tremendous success.

“Data Protection efforts have created over 2,860 new job roles. We have done so much more in the areas of developmental regulations, digital literacy, job creation, deployment of ICT infrastructure; IT projects clearance process, implementation of Public Key Infrastructure amongst others.”

 Earlier, the NITDA boss had harped on the need for Nigeria to have a solid strategy for the exploration and management of  the vital resource that drives a digital economy, which is data.”As we embarked on our journey to digital Nigeria, we need to lay a strong foundation for its corresponding economy, the digital economy,” he said.