May 22, 2018

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called for the adoption of  proper framework for the integration of Information Technology projects among Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for proper implementation.

Dr Isa Pantami, the Director General of the agency made the call at the stakeholders’ workshop on the draft `Nigerian e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF), in Abuja.

Interoperability is the ability of different e-government systems from MDAs to interact by communicating, interpreting and exchanging information in a meaningful way to deliver public service in an integrated manner.

He said that the meeting would ensure that stakeholders review, criticise and add value to the draft which would serve as the only existing framework for e-governance.

Pantami said that there was need for synergy among MDAs to ensure implementation of IT projects and avoid duplication, thereby saving money for the government.

“Some of the e-government projects that have been implemented had recorded success stories and it saved cost for government.

“Interoperability among MDAs makes them more transparent and accountable, ‘’ he said

The D-G recalled that Treasury Single Account (TSA), which was an e-governance indigenously developed strategy had been able to save the country over N2 billion monthly.

He said that projects like e-wallet for farmers, Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), generation of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) were among e-government strategies that had improved governance.

Pantami said that there were MDAs that tend to implement e-governance but they were done in silos and caused wasteful funds.

“There are many MDAs that try to implement aspects of e-government, but the problem we are having is that e-government cannot be implemented in silos.

“There must be a networking that will ensure that all MDAs are interwoven.

“This is why we want to ensure that whatever IT project is  implemented by any MDA has a streamlined function so they can interact with the other.”

Pantami added that the agency was focusing on IT regulation which mandates MDAs to obtain clearance before implementing IT projects, government digital services, development, capacity building, cyber security and local content development.

According to him, IT experts in MDAs are stakeholders in NITDA and adopting the framework will deliver e-governance to the country, save cost and benefit citizens.

Mr Lukman Lamid, of the e-Government Coordination and Capacity Development unit of the agency during the presentation of the draft said that e-Government interoperability required steps.

According to Lamid, the UN directives to achieve e-Government requires Whole-of-Government (WOG) approach, policy integration and big data analytics.

He, however, said that Nigeria had performed poorly in WOG approach, adding that interoperability of ICT system was lacking.

“Levels of interoperability are organisational, semantics and technical which every MDA needs to follow to ensure integration.”

He said that Ne-GIF must include IT standardisation, principles, flexibility, openness, accessibility, reusability for relevance.

Lamid said that human factor which involved process definition to deliver integrated service and technical factors could contribute to delays in implementation of Ne-GIF.

“Ne-GIF recommends that MDAs should greatly adopt open standard and specifically use web and internet technology for the development of e-services application and platform.

“It recommends that web resources should be presented in XML/JSON format,” he said.

Ms Martha Ighomena from Regulation and Licensing unit of the agency, while presenting compliance and review of the draft said that MDAs and the private sector needed to comply for effective service delivery.

Ighomena said the draft needed to be reviewed biannually considering the fast changing nature of IT to conform to the best international practice standards.