PATRONIZE NIGERIAN DATA CENTRES; NITDA REITERATES CALLS

NITDA'S CEO Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami

Poised as ever to ensure compliance of Nigeria's ICT regulations and laws, the country's ICT regulator, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has reiterated its calls on Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government to patronize data centres.



This was disclosed in a statement signed by Hadiza Umar,  Head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations in Abuja .

The statement reads that; "NITDA would like to bring to the attention of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as well as private sector organizations on the need for them to patronize Nigerian Data Centers".

"The progress made in the adoption and utilization of ICT in both the public and private sectors of the economy, makes hosting data and information inevitable".

"However, it is disheartening to note the current practices of both public and private sector organizations hosting data offshore, despite having highly reliable Tier III Data Centers, certified by various international organizations and guaranteeing almost 100% availability, as well as multiple layers of security", the release stated.

"Furthermore, hosting data locally guarantees reduction in cost and capital flight, digital job creation, increased security, and increase in tax revenues thereby boosting the local economy".

It may be recalled that Section 14.1 of the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT makes it mandatory for Data and Information Management Firms to “Host government data locally within the country and shall not for any reason, host any government data outside the country without an express approval from NITDA", the release said.

"Furthermore, as stated in Section 14.3 of the Guidelines, the Agency is working with local data hosting firms to set appropriate service level requirements and standards for data service provisioning. The Office for Nigerian Content Development in ICT (ONC), NITDA’s Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), has been restructured and charged with the responsibility of developing, promoting and monitoring indigenous ICT adoption and utilization".

In addition, adequate measures have been put in place to facilitate full compliance with these guidelines, the statement read.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is a Federal Government Agency created in April 2001 to implement the Nigerian Information Technology Policy and coordinate general IT development and regulation in the country. Specifically, Section 6(a & c) of the Act establishing the Agency mandates it to create a framework for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices, activities and systems in Nigeria; and render advisory services in all information technology matters to the public and private sectors.