DATA MELLON HOLD PUBLIC SECTOR INNOVATION SUMMIT ….. Tasks Nigerians To Embrace Gains Of Digital Revolution And Economic Growth

“If we want to have a digital driven economy, we ought to have a sector that is digitally driven. This is the focus of this programme; letting the public sector know more about all of the digitally driven innovations. This programme is also expected to create the needed awareness of the abundance of talents in Nigeria.” Wale Adedeji, CEO, Data Mellon

With the global world tilting towards use of Artificial Intelligence, AI, a tech expert has advised Nigerian youths to embrace the gains offered by the digital space in creating a better self and nation. 

The advisory was from the Chief Executive Officer of Data Mellon, Wale Adedeji on the sidelines of a “Public Sector Innovation Summit” organized by his company on Thursday at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. 

While responding to questions, Adedeji encouraged Nigerians, especially youths and enterprising citizens to actively, participate in the strategic move of the government to create three million tech jobs across the country that aims to propel the nation to the forefront of the next digital revolution, which is going to be driven by Artificial Intelligence AI. 

The Data Mellon boss, speaking on the essence of the One-Day summit, stressed that the theme of the government of today is digital innovation. He revealed that Data Mellon is a data consulting company; a cloud marketing firm that encourages digital innovation, noting that the idea that necessitated this programme is to enable the public sector know more about its gains. 

“If we want to have a digital driven economy, we ought to have a sector that is digitally driven. This is the focus of this programme; letting the public sector know more about all of the digitally driven innovations. This programme is also expected to create the needed awareness of the abundance of talents in Nigeria.” He said. 

“In reality, the federal government has what it takes to achieve the creation of the three million jobs. Erroneously, some people have assumed that Nigerians are not bold enough and that is unfortunate. The federal government came up with this bold initiative and all it requires is for Nigerians to embrace this programme and support the government. 

The Minister for Communication and Digital economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, alongside his team is primed to deliver and companies like Data Mellon just needs to key into this project for a better tomorrow for us all. 

“We are the Number One in subsharan Africa, dealing more in digital innovative services for a lot of company across the world. The three million projections is just the minimum and that can be achieved. I foresee a much higher figure in the days to come,” he stated. 

Tasked on the poverty level in the country and the high cost of engaging in the digital sector, Adedeji discountenanced the idea stressing that he comes from a poor background and therefore, “we must understand that what drives youths of today in Nigeria, is their strong desire to succeed. This is the focus of the government of today and that is what the Renewed Hope Agenda tends to promote for all Nigerians and we must all key into that.” 

Adedeji commended the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy for his drive including the involvement of the Ministry of Communication with its tech collaborators that runs into billions of naira. 

Bernand Ewah, acting Director, e-Government and Regulation, NITDA

Acting Director, e-Government and Regulation of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Bernand Ewah who represented the Director General of the Agency, Dr. Engr. Kashifu Inuwa stated that the “Public Sector Innovation Summit” organized by Data Mellon has been envisaged by the Government for a long time. He noted that this is essence of the formation of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA. 

“As I earlier stated during my remarks, it is about creating new opportunities for citizens to access governments’ services and for businesses to thrive by employing technology to serve their customers irrespective of their place of residence; either government or private. We want to see the Gov-tech industry take leaps and be on the same level like the Fintech industry, for instance. If Nigerians built Fintech that we are all proud of, that is serving customers in Nigeria and across Africa and other parts of the world, we will also want to have the Govtech industry take that position. 

Responding to questions relating to NITDA’s preparedness to protect these data, Ewah revealed that, “Nigeria has taken a proactive step by enacting a very forward looking Act on Data Protection. In addition, Nigeria has created a full fledged calibration for that purpose. While on the issue of virus, we will continue to be present but, there are also, other opportunities that the government has created, measures, I should say, to ensure that those who are transiting from manual to gito systems are safe. 

“In addition, for data, it is not just about the protection. Data is a resource and as such, government is equally looking at how we can extract more value for our data. However, that is data that is generated by government agencies, which we refer to as administrative data or, data that is generated by you and I as citizens. Several other data sources have the potential to impact on how decisions taken by government organizations or improve the quality of decisions. 

“Yes, the goal of creating three million jobs is realizable by the Federal Government that is, considering the sheer size of our population. Our talents have proven themselves and they are recognizable anywhere in the world. 

“We have done that through the number of innovations that have come out of Nigeria. On the role of NITDA in actualizing this set goal of government, NITDA has always ensured that there is the right focus towards developing talents for Nigeria, and therefore, will play its very strong and supportive role for the FG and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.” Bernard Ewah stated. 

The event has representatives from the Interior Ministry, the National Airspace maritime Authority, the National Youth Service Corps and many others.