By Oluwole Alao
Research, innovation and human capital development has been described as ladder of achieving optimal economic growth of the nation, especially through harnessesing the potential of youths, in order to have technologically advanced country driven by digital economy.
The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi CCIE who was represented by the Director of the e-Government, Development and Regulations department, Dr. Vincent Olatunji made this submission today when he played host to delegates from the Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil who visited for possible collaborations at the Agency’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja.
Abdullahi appreciated the management of the University for deeming it fit to come to the Agency to seek possible areas of collaborations and assistance. “It is exciting to know that academic institutions are realizing the need to collaborate with Federal Government organizations in symbiotically pulling resources together for the growth of the nation”, the DG noted.
The NITDA boss commended the University on their various publications which he described as a result of hard work put into research but however urged them to harness and galvanize the outputs of these research for the purpose of impacting their immediate community and country at large. “Investing in Research and Development will grow the economy of our country because all administrative strategies and frameworks are built on the basics and fundamentals of research and innovations”, the DG stated.
Abdullahi further disclosed that the university can key into several strategic pillars of the Agency’s recently unveiled Strategic Road Map and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024. He assured the visitors of a possible collaboration on human capital development which falls under the Digital Literacy and Skills pillar of the SRAP. “We have been engaging several universities in our National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics on things related to emerging technologies and we will be delighted to share our knowledge and expertise with you”. the DG disclosed.
The DG averred that the world is going digital and it was important for institutes of learning to constantly engage in research and innovations as it is the bedrock of economic growth of any nation. “We are committed to ensuring that awareness and access is given to every citizen on digital literacy and will give you all the support we can in bridging the digital divide in Nigeria”, he concluded.
The Vice Chancellor of the University who was represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics, Professor Aminu Umar Fagge earlier expressed his gratitude for the warm reception given by the Agency.
He stated that the university which had over twenty thousand students have achieved a lot of feats with the little resources at their disposal and are therefore seeking collaboration and support from NITDA in areas of IT infrastructures and human capital development.
