The National Youth Service Corps has
been conferred with the best MDA award for the innovative deployment of
Information and Communications Technology.
This came at the e-Nigeria 2016
e-Governance dinner and award ceremony with the theme: “Leveraging on IT
Innovation for Economic Diversification” organized by the National Information
Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in collaboration with an Indian IT
company, Nihilent Technologies, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) came
second in the MDAs category, while Sokoto State and the University of Lagos
emerged best in state governments and public universities’ categories
respectively.
Speaking at the ceremony, the
Director-General of NITDA, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami said the awards were meant
to recognize and further encourage public and private sector organizations that
are deploying IT solutions to drive their activities.
Dr. Pantami explained that the
selection process involved on-the-stop assessment of the ICT infrastructure and
deployment of same by organizations that participated.
He congratulated the NYSC and other
winners, and expressed the hope that the award would motivate them to
continuously embrace IT innovations for the promotion of e-Governance.
In his address, the Minister of
Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, noted with delight that Nigerians
were becoming aware of the crucial role of ICT in personal, business and
economic development as well as job creation.
He added that organizations in public
and private sectors must continue to leverage on ICT to enhance the achievement
of their corporate goals.
The Minister also advocated the
compulsory teaching of ICT courses to all university students to enable them
fit properly into the competitive world.
Another highlight of the ceremony was
the presentation of Long Service Award to some staff of the National
Information Technology Development Agency.
Commenting after receiving the award,
the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Sulaiman Kazaure, expressed joy
over the emergence of the Scheme as the best in the MDAs category on ICT
deployment.
Kazaure said since the Scheme’s
migration from analogue to digital method of mobilization, there have been
continuous strides towards deploying ICT solutions for efficiency in other
aspects of its operations.
“Apart from the online registration, we
have since commenced the use of biometric verification for clearance of Corps
members, especially to ensure credible monitoring of their attendance at places
of primary assignment, Community Development Service and other programmes.
“The deployment of ICT has also made it
easier for us to monitor activities in our orientation camps,” he said.
He said the Scheme remains committed to
continuous improvement of its ICT infrastructure and innovative deployment of
same so as to keep pace with demands of e-Governance.
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