Anambra State ICT Agency has launched its "Agency 2.0" phase, steering the state toward total e-governance by 2030. In this WeekendDigits@ITREALMS feature, REMMY NWEKE reports that the strategy, driven by MD Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, deploys open-source AI to boost civil service efficiency, converts static MDA portals into transactional hubs, and expands rural broadband to bridge the digital divide.
When Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo reappointed Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata (CFA) to lead the Anambra State ICT Agency for a second tenure, the fundamental question confronting sub-national digital strategy was straightforward: what comes after laying the baseline fiber optic infrastructure and launching public Wi-Fi hotspots?
The answer, unveiled during an interactive virtual engagement with technology journalists; is "Agency 2.0," a strategic pivot from foundational connectivity toward active digital governance, open-source AI deployment, and public sector workflow automation targeting total MDA digitization by 2030.
Sub-national AI precedent
The flagship pillar of the 2.0 phase is the deployment of a locally trained artificial intelligence system designed to automate internal operations. Recognizing that training a frontier large language model from scratch demands prohibitive capital and computing power, the agency adapted an existing open-source framework, fine-tuning and training it on sub-national datasets for specific administrative use cases.
Having automated its own operations end-to-end, the ICT Agency is now exploring extending the open-source model across key state Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to curb revenue leakages and optimize civil service productivity.
Converting static portals to transactional engines:
Beyond AI, Agency 2.0 aims to transform MDA websites into active transactional hubs. Through integrated platforms like SmartGov and OneGov, residents can initiate applications, complete official forms, and process administrative requests remotely, drastically reducing physical trips to state offices in Awka.
Simultaneously, the agency's collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce to formalize informal small and medium enterprises (SMEs) via digital channels seeks to integrate thousands of local traders into the formal financial ecosystem.
Bridging rural broadband divide:
To ensure digital public services do not widen the urban-rural divide, the state is targeting strategic interventions to expand connectivity outside major commercial centers. By pursuing partnerships with federal agencies and leveraging the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), Anambra’s Agency 2.0 balances frontier technology adoption with fundamental digital inclusion for underserved communities. Short URLs: goo.gl, mcaf.ee, cli.gs
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