…Abdullahi: Data remains a critical tool for digital entrenchment
…As DG Urges educationists to realign curriculum to 4IR
By Darley Ogbodo
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Ibrahim Pantami, has assured the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) of federal government’s support in the enforcement of the Nigerian Data Regulation Policy (NDPR).
The Minister who made the disclosure at the Global Privacy Day 2021 Week, in Abuja, urged the agency to rev up the engine of enforcement, stressing that public and private sector data controllers must now take note that non-compliance with the NDPR is a breach with administrative, civil and criminal liabilities.
He expressed delight that NITDA, in collaboration with public and private stakeholders has infused a lot of innovation to the organization of this year’s privacy week despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Pantami admitted that the digital economy is developing at a remarkable rate and it has been widely accepted as the single most important driver of innovation, competitiveness and growth.
He said statistics showed that the global digital market stands at $11.5 trillion dollars or approximately 16% of the global economy, adding that the value is expected to grow significantly over the coming years.
McKinsey and Company has predicted that the digital economy in Africa is expected to grow to over $300 billion by 2025.
According to him, the World Economic Forum also predicts that over 60% of global GDP will be digitized by 2022 and that over the next decade, digital platforms will be used to create close to 70% of new value and jobs.
Pantami, said most nations are prioritizing the need to develop their digital economies because they realize the multiplier effects that this can have on all other sectors of the economy.
He said: “The currency of the digital economy is personal data. Digital platforms require information such as names, emails, phone numbers, geo-data among other personally identifiable information to be able to fulfill their service promise and to do effective marketing.
“Data must therefore be harnessed and properly regulated in order to achieve an orderly use of such valuable asset.
“When I signed the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation two years ago, I knew it was a fundamental instrument needed to digitally transform Nigeria.”
He acknowledged that he is proud of the Director-General and the NITDA staff who have worked hard not only to implement the NDPR, but have done so seamlessly with local and international stakeholders.
“The array of partners of the privacy week shows that NITDA is representing government well, hence the show of support by the private sector.
According to him, the current efforts of the ministry in encouraging Nigerians to register for the National Identity Number (NIN) is a strategic and critical national effort to ensure Nigerians have a credible, converged and consistent database for identity purposes.
The value of this, he added, would become appreciated with the ease at which e-government services would be delivered, the reduction in crime, and general efficiency guaranteed by the database.
Identifying every Nigeria is a soft infrastructure needed to achieve our digital economy objective, as according to him, the needed pieces for the digital economy is falling in place, explaining that the government is committed to laying a solid and lasting foundation for a digital Nigeria.
The Ministry is also working with relevant organs of government to ensure Nigeria passes a well-thought, digital-economy propelling Data Protection Act, the Minister said.
“I also assure our stakeholders and the international community that we are putting in place requisite mechanisms for the institutional framework to implementation ensure successful implementation of the Bill as soon as it is passed into law.
“The lessons from the NDPR would form the foundation for the Act and we hope to continue playing a leading role in deepening data protection and digital economy in Africa.
“I implore the African Union Commission and our international partners to support Nigeria’s call for creating an African Single Digital Market (ASDM). This would enable the continent gain the advantage of economies of 1.3 billion people. The ASDM would also help us have data sovereignty in such a way as to protect data while also protecting the multinational technology investors.
The Minister expressed delight at the enthusiasm demonstrated by the various secondary students at the event.
Meanwhile, The Director-General National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) Mallam Kashifu Abdullahi, has hinted that data plays a critical role in a digital economy.
This he said while participating in an on-line US-Nigeria Digital Trade standards workshop organised by the US-Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), with the
theme: Current state of Data privacy and security in Nigeria which was rounded on Thursday.
According to him, in a digital economy, data plays a huge role in everyday activities, as an enormous amount of data is generated, collected and stored by all equipment which dominates our lives.
He cited the various uses to which a seemingly innocuous gadget such as our mobile phones is being put behind the scene.
On the subject of discourse, the DG examined it basically from three perspectives namely;
He asked: “What is data protection, how they differ and overlap, how both are affected by digitalization and finally, what government is doing to protect and strengthen right to privacy and data protection?
“Data protection, contrary to popular belief, is not the same thing as privacy .Privacy is a broad concept referring to the condition which enables basic foundation of human dignity, but data protection is more specific. It is concerned with the way third party handles the information they hold about us, how it is collected, processed, shared, stored and used .In other words, privacy is the big picture and data protection is one corner of it.”
Abdullahi, explained how digitalization is creating new ways to collect, accessed, analyse and use data across multiple borders and jurisdiction, with challenges to data privacy.
On what Nigerian government is doing to protect and strengthen privacy and data protection, the DG reminded the audience that the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) issued on 25th January 2019 was crafted to meet global standard on data protection and provide unique and innovative implementation matrix. Part of the NDPR implementation strategy is sustained public awareness which was undertaken between May and October 2019.
He acknowledged that Nigeria is the first country in African to dedicate a week to Data Protection Public Awareness, adding that other measures include the establishment of Data Protection Compliance Organizations (DPCOs), Data Breach Investigation Team and Police Enforcement Teams.
He admitted that the NDPR implementation framework has also succeeded in ensuring that within a year of coming on stream, a total of 635 data audit reports were filed by various entities across 13 sectors of the Nigerian economy, just as 15 investigations on alleged data breaches were undertaken while 2686 jobs were created.
As mark of Nigerian leadership position in the digital world in African explains why she currently sits as the vice chair of the Policy and Regulatory Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA) and full member of the Common Thread Network (CTN), A network of Common wealth Nations Data Protections Authority.
In another development, the DG, urged stakeholders in the education sector to ensure that the curriculum of schools reflect what is needed to prepare the workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Abdullahi, made the disclosure at the National Olympiad Award Ceremony organised by the National Mathematical Centre (NMC) in Abuja, where over 90 students from secondary schools across the federation who have performed exceptionally well in mathematics, were recognized and awarded.
Represented by Director, Corporate Planning Strategy Dr Agu Collins Agu, Abdullahi opined that it is important to review the curriculum of primary and secondary schools to have subjects that will help in inculcating future workforce and prerequisite skills needed to thrive in the 4IR by providing mathematical toolkits to the students.
He noted that the greatest achievement of man was achieved through mathematics, adding that Technologies like computers, Big Data Analytics, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence etc, are innovations derived from mathematics.
He said that the continuous pursuit of the process will help to demystify mathematics, train and mentor more students in the subject.
He donated the inclusive digital Economy toolkit on behalf of the agency to NMC, which is a mother board locally designed to drive smart city, internet of things and artificial intelligence.
He urged NMC to collaborate with the agency in the area of R&d in order to make a quantum leap in technology and innovation ecosystem.
The NMC explained that the award ceremony was aimed at encouraging more students to take on mathematics and own it, adding that many students have been beneficiaries and are studying in various institutions across the world.