Digital innovations reshape societies and economies – NITDA

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The National Information Technology Agency, NITDA, has said Digital innovations reshape societies and economies, and it is now redefining the very essence of identities.

The agency, through its Director General, DG, Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi stated this Tuesday during his address at the ongoing 2023 Digital Nigeria Conference in Abuja. 

Mallam Abdullahi who was speaking to participants at the event scheduled to end Thursday (tomorrow) and aims to provide opportunities for youth networking and financial empowerment, fostering conversations, innovations, and aspirations, urged Nigerians to embrace and harness the vast potential of digital technology.

According to the DG who outlined the vision of the 2023 Digital Nigeria Conference, embracing and harnessing the vast potential of digital technology would help in leveraging digital technology to stimulate job creation, ensure inclusive economic growth, and lay the foundation for a robust digital economy.

He said, “We are living in a world of technological advancements, where futuristic dreams of yesterday are becoming reality in today’s products and services. Digital innovations have empowered individuals and nations, transforming the way we think, communicate and socialise, reshaping societies and economies, and redefining the value of our identities.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani who also spoke at the event noted that the push for digital transformation aligns seamlessly with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration as he cited the pivotal role digitalisation plays in building a resilient economy.

He also cited its contributions to job creation, improved information access, heightened productivity, data-driven decision-making, and the expansion of opportunities for small and medium-scale enterprises.

Tijani said, “It is widely acknowledged that digitalisation plays a foundational role, akin to public infrastructures in earlier industrialisation periods, and investing in it is a prerequisite for participating in the global knowledge economy. Digital technology presents tremendous opportunities to expedite progress toward sustainable development goals, while also having the potential to widen socioeconomic disparities in a developing nation like Nigeria.”

Meanwhile, recall that NITDA had recently unveiled an initiative that will use blockchain technology to authenticate National Youth Service Corps certificates.

Disclosing the initiative at the stakeholders’ policy dialogue event on the ‘Implementation of the national blockchain’ in Lagos recently, the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Abdullahi said the new digital technology being introduced would help to  address the challenge of certificate forgery and fraudulent issuance adding that NITDA was collaborating with the newly appointed Director-General, NYSC, Brigadier-General Yusha’u Ahmed, to pioneer the development of an advanced blockchain-based certificate authentication system.

He said that the revolutionary approach was designed to ensure the integrity and validity of NYSC certificates, thereby enhancing transparency and trust in the certification process while emphasizing blockchain technology’s potential to bring about a paradigm shift in certificate verification.

He said, “The NYSC certificate has been a concern due to widespread cases of forgery and fraudulent issuance.

“We recognise the urgent need to combat the prevalent issue of forged NYSC certificates in Nigeria,” adding that “by leveraging blockchain’s power, we aim to establish a secure, tamper-proof system that will enable individuals, institutions, and employers to easily verify the authenticity of NYSC certificates.”