The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode has said
that e-government has become indispensible in the administration of the state
as 140,000 staff is grossly inadequate to serve a population of 21 million, ITRealms
reports.
The Governor was speaking, as special Guest at the 2015 edition of the Nigeria
Internet Group (NIG) Conference and Exhibition which held at Goldengate
Restaurant, Ikoyi, Lagos. He stated that the ICT sector has achieved a
phenomenal growth and stressed the state government’s readiness to partner with
NIG as the state remains in the forefront of e-governance with the Oracle
Portal.
“In the last decade the internet has changed our way of
life and the way things are done, spanning individual lifestyle, manufacturing
and industry as well as governance. The traditional economy and commercial
system have given way to a new economic platform of online merchandising and
logistics management,” Ambode said.
The internet, he said, has reduced the world to a global village even as the ICT sector has achieved a phenomenal growth, providing employment opportunities , acting as a platform for content and application development in manufacturing and industry, security, agriculture, education, commercial and financial transactions. He called for collaboration for infrastructural support in order to achieve internet penetration to the last mile.
He said it is a fact that as a nation we have not been
able to maximise the use of the internet as a multifunctional resource, poor
internet service to end users, high cost of internet relative to the developed
world and use of the internet for fraudulent activities are obvious challenges.
Represented by the
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Science and Technology, Lagos, Abdulraman
Mustapha, Abode, ITRealms gathered,
said as responsible government with the population of Lagos state and with
inadequate staff it is essential to embrace e-service in every sector of government
activity even as the state is bent on having one single health record. He
thanked the NIG for initiating and sustaining the conference and exhibition,
adding that the state government requires the advice of NIG in terms of how to
implement its e-service engagements. He said the government of Lagos State will
like to have a copy of the deliberation which will guide the government to
achieve a regulatory framework.
ITRealms
reports that this year’s NIG conference has the theme “Internet Penetration,
the way forward,” Ambode said “the Lagos State Government in consultation with
Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), the State has reduced the
right of way by 85 per cent”. On that note he declared the conference and
exhibition open.
NIG, a non-for
profit, Non-government organisation was formed in 1995 to promote the
internet as a tool for personal and national development, to promote provision
of internet access for all Nigerians, to sensitise government about the
potential of the internet as a critical tool for economic development, to
promote the development of local internet content through the adoption of
internet applications, such as e-commerce, e-entertainment, assist in the
formation of relevant government policies affecting the internet, etc.
Today its major focus is to ensure that Nigerians adopt
the internet as a platform to create jobs for themselves, hence the launch of a
programme called Internet for Jobs Initiative (141).
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
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Pix:Akinwumi Ambode
