Digital Economy: One of the fastest Growing Sectors of Nigeria’s Economy – DG NITDA

Digital Economy: One of the fastest Growing Sectors of Nigeria’s Economy – DG NITDA

POLITICS DIGEST– The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, has stated that the nation’s Digital Economy is currently taking giant strides in the right direction and growing at a very fast pace compared to other sectors of the nation’s economy.
Abdullahi who made this assertion recently at the Digital Jewel Privacy Week Roundtable discussion, with the theme “Harnessing Data as a Critical Asset in the Digital Economy” which held virtually in attendance of stakeholders from different sectors. He noted that the global digital economy is currently undergoing an astronomical transformation. To this end, Nigeria has intensified its efforts to ensure that the government, private sector, and the consumer are in sync.
According to the Director General, in order for the nation to be strategically positioned for the gains from global digital economy, His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on 23rd October 2019, redesignated and expanded the scope and mandate of Ministry of Communications to cover the Digital Economy component. In furtherance of this development, the President on 28th November 2019 unveiled the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in a bid to put Nigeria on the global map of a digitally competitive nation and to propel innovative activities. Thus, unlock Nigeria’s opportunities and providing quality lives for all.
He further noted that data is currently one of the world’s most valuable and significant asset as it plays a huge role in our everyday live. In his words, “collecting and sharing data is very key to facilitating and operating business activities in today’s fast-paced digital economy. Never before has data protection become more crucial than it is now as it has become central to how businesses can maintain trust and safeguard the data they collect or process”
According to him, it has become evident that digital technologies essentially power our everyday activity. For instance, it seems so perfectly normal now to use our mobile phone to activate our emails, shop online, chat with friends and families, share pictures, read, watch and listen to movies and music etc. By doing so, you provide your personal data such as name, address, bank details and so on.
“These are the information you and I know we share visibly but behind the scene, huge amount of data is being generated, collected and stored by our mobile phones every second. It knows your location, the route you follow to work, who you spend time with, who you talk to, what you say, who you chat with and what you share. It also knows what you read, watch and listen to,” he added.
Speaking on what NITDA has done so far regarding data protection, Abdullahi explained that the Agency, in 2013 issued the Data Protection Guidelines to provide a simple regulation to guide the use of data in the digital space. However, with the emergence of the EU GDPR in 2016, the Agency partnered other stakeholders to issue the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) on 25th January 2019.
Subsequent to the issuance of the NDPR, NITDA has sustained substantial public awareness campaigns. In May and October, 2019, the Agency carried out massive media awareness, which has placed Nigeria as the first country in Africa to dedicate a whole week to public awareness on data privacy protection.
In his words “Our first privacy week held on 23rd – 28th January 2020, and on a regular basis, we issue press statements. Also, we have treated several questions, request for clarification and other enquiries from the public on the issue of data protection. We have also organized workshops for Data Protection Compliance Organizations (DPCOs), Data Protection Officers, Data Breach Investigation Team (DBIT), and the Police Enforcement Team. We have also selected NITDA staff, and organized in-house workshop for major multinationals, regulators and industry associations.
“NITDA has also created unique implementation structure for the NDPR, which also creates a set of licensees to organizations who have proven expertise in data protection implementation. These DPCOs are licensed to provide data protection compliance, audit, training and related services to all Data Controllers and Processors. Currently, we have licensed seventy DPCOs and also received many more applications, which are presently being treated. Aside from the compliance focus, we have also inaugurated the Data Breach Investigation Team (DBIT).
“On the recommendation of the Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, NITDA was appointed as a member of the Technical working group on Data Protection Laws Harmonization and Localization in Africa hosted by the African Union Commission with support from the European Union Commission. Nigeria was appointed as the Vice Chair of this very important group. The confidence reposed in us by the African and European Union (EU) has been justified as our experiential, collegial and intellectual inputs to the process has endeared us to our sister countries,” the Director General concluded.