The minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, Bosun Tijani, says the need to urgently digitalise government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) cannot be overemphasised.

Mr Tijani stated this on Thursday at the meeting of the Nigeria National Council of ICT Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, in Abeokuta.

He noted that this would not only aid proactiveness in the business of governance but would also block fraudulent activities, help improve Nigeria’s economy and set government priorities right at all times.

He added that the purpose of the meeting was to brainstorm on how best to digitalise the operations of government through its MDAs and other structures of government in the country.

He said that there was need for immediate provision of ICT infrastructure that would aid data sharing among government agencies.

According to Mr Tijani, his vision of achieving digitalisation is codenamed DPI (Digital Public Infrastructure).

“Sharing of data is not just about fraud; the matter of data sharing in government is about effectiveness.

“If we are sharing data appropriately, we can even know how people are moving between states in Nigeria so that when there is the need to increase the capacity to support people, we can quickly do that seamlessly,” he said.

The minister called on the stakeholders and participants in the programme to support the innovation to achieve true and speedy success.

“We should start to see these benefits in the next 12 months; we will start to see changes in the way technology is being used by the government,” he said.

(NAN)