Effective leadership: KOICA, partners implement e-governance project in Nigeria
By Sarafina Christopher
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and partners say they have, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy (FMCDE), implemented the second phase of e-governance master plan project in Nigeria.
Mr Sungil Son, KOICA’s Country Director, said the second phase of the National e-Government Master Plan was developed in line with the shared vision and objectives between the partners and the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP).
According to Sungil, the vision is to achieve effective and efficient leadership in Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project was implemented in the course of a two-day workshop on e-government master plan in Abuja, with the theme, “Building Foundations Towards Digital Governance in Nigeria (2020~2026/$13m).”
“The first phase of the e-government master plan was implemented between 2014-2019.
“After the implementation of the first phase, we figured out that we needed to update the e-government master plan project 1.0 into project 2.0 which is the second phase.
“Specific strategies are proposed that will improve the quality of citizens’ lives by enhancing national competitiveness, facilitating market economy, promoting participatory democracy, and improving transparency in the public sector.
“There are guiding principles, objectives, phased approach to vision realisation, critical success factors, sub-systems, policies, components, strategies and initiatives which when adhered to will ensure the successful implementation of the e-government master plan,” he said.
He added that the goal of the project was to achieve one digitalised government through open governance, digital transformation of processes involved in delivering services, and through an inter-operatable government ICT network.
“This project guarantees that Nigeria is on its way to achieving a fully digitalised economy,” he added.
Earlier in his speech, the Project Manager, Prof. Hung Park, a Professor of Computer Science at Sangmyung University, South Korea, noted that by implementing the e-government master plan, Nigeria would be embracing the capability that would enable the country to become a leading global digital economy player.
“Over the past eight years Nigeria has been able to implement only one aspect of the e-government master plan as recommended, which is the establishment of the presidential council for e-government, and they made the first phase a national agenda.
“So this is a really good start towards transforming the Nigerian government into a digital economy.
“The e-government master plan is not just a document but a success factor based on how it is implemented and this brings us to the second phase of the project.
“The project will enhance Nigeria’s e-Government implementation system through an update of the current Nigeria e-government master plan, upgrade of Nigeria’s Enterprise Architecture, and development of 10-year e-Government Implementation Plan.
“It will also aid in improving competencies for e-Government service delivery through capacity building programmes designed for policy makers and technical officers at both the federal and state levels of government.
“The project will also enhance the quality of government digital services through the activation of the Government Service Portal – www.services.gov.ng,” Park said.
Similarly, Mr Aremu Ade, Director e-Government Department, FMCDE, said the project would be used by the government to re-engineer its agenda for the country towards directing the holistic and citizen-centric deployment of ICT in governance.
“The ministry is committed to ensuring that the initiative taken by the South Korea government on Nigeria’s e-government is achieved.
“We will not only adopt this e-government practices but also continue to strive to improve the quality and scope of e-government as encouraged by the bi annual publication of the UN e-government survey since 2003,” Ade said.
NAN reports that the Project Management Consortium led by the Sangmyung University is the lead Project manager of the project. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Deborah Coker/Emmanuel Yashim
Published By
Has also recently published
Economy/BusinessNovember 21, 2024NEC ratifies Board of NSIA Ratification
MetroNovember 20, 2024FG to establish national youth development bank
MetroNovember 20, 2024‘Seek robust solutions to northern problems’, Tinubu to leaders
MetroNovember 18, 2024Nigeria, India vow spike in economic, defence, other ties
