Nigeria’s  Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) on Thursday in Abuja urged Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to invest in Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills to stimulate growth and boost GDP in the country.

Such investment will also help Nigeria catch up with the rest of the world in the area of digitization, job creation, technology adaptation and deployment in the workplace.

The Chairman, Governing Board of DBI, Mr Titi Omo-Ettu, made the call at the institution’s one-day interactive forum with Directors of Human Resources and Information Technology (IT) of various government agencies.

The interaction focused on the role of ICT in human resources with reference to capacity building development.

“It is my hope that as leaders in your various organisations, you will make the right decisions by recognising the need to give ICT training its deserved priority.

“We must invest consciously in digital skills acquisition through training and retraining not only to remain relevant but to prepare  the workforce for the unfolding digital revolution,” he said.

Omo-Ettu emphasised that embracing emerging technologies was crucial in positioning government agency to remain relevant and more efficient.

According to him, the digital age is altering how we do things socially, economically and politically, so the fast pace of changes in technology, tools and platforms in the ICT sector have necessitated need for continuous investments in training.

He bemoaned how increased pace of globalisation and technological advancement was expanding the divide between Africa and other regions.

Omo-Ettu, who gave a snapshot of how jobs and skills would differ in the digital era, said that government services would soon become more digitised.

He said that 58 per cent of organisations would recruit employees with specialised knowledge and experience as both hard and soft skills would be vital for future vocations.

“Statistics show that by 2020, 85 per cent to 90 per cent of jobs will require ICT skills.

“While science, technology, engineering and mathematics professions are projected to have the highest growth rate, computer occupations are expected to have the highest job growth.

“This highlights the need to have a rethink on how we view jobs and skills to ensure that the entirety of the population is not left behind,’’ Omo-Ettu said.

He said that the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which created centralized technology system for viewing Federal Governments treasury and managing public sector payroll indicated pattern of things to come

Dr Ike Adinde, Administrator of DBI, said that feedback from the interaction would go a long way in helping the institute redesign and represent its programmes in 2019.

“It will help the institution to determine where skills are mostly needed in ICT for the purpose of supporting goals and objectives,’’ Adinde said. (NAN)