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Tijani spoke on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the 18th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) in Abuja. The four-day event, themed ‘Shaping the Future of Digital Governance Through Cooperation, Innovation and Inclusion,’ was organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA). Tijani said platforms like ICEGOV provide opportunities for countries to research emerging technologies and develop policies that align with their societal needs. According to the minister, Nigeria’s participation in ICEGOV 2024 demonstrated the country’s need to deepen research in the digital economy, a track record that earned it the trust and confidence of partners to host the 2025 edition. “The Nigerian government is not just doing this as a show because immediately after ICEGOV last year, we funded over 55 research projects,” Tijani said. “At the minute, we are putting together about N12 billion to fund further research projects that are focused on the digital economy. “We are setting up three research clusters of six universities, each one focused on artificial intelligence, another focus on the biggest issue in our nation today, which is connectivity, where we are investing significantly. “Thirdly, because of our population, we are also funding another research cluster that is focused on digital skills and literacy.” He noted that digital technologies have become central to modern human life, stressing that societies remain underdeveloped without them. The minister added that the technologies should not be viewed merely as economic instruments, but as vital tools for reshaping and governing society. Elsa Estevez, chair of the ICEGOV steering committee, said addressing the risks linked to artificial intelligence requires collaboration among countries, organisations, and governments at all levels. “In the past years, we were profoundly affected by digitally driven innovations, and we often adapt them without much reflection and such innovations dramatically change the way we interact, socially, work, build and complement our capacities,” Estevez said. “We need to ensure that innovations are not just technological, but human centered and contributing to better societies. “For inclusion, governments, states need to listen and moderate discussions about public affairs, shape political agendas to respond to uncovered needs, secure the digital space of discussions on fake speech, fake news and political manipulation.” She said securing the public digital space requires regulation, education, and awareness, all based on strong information ethics. ‘DIGITAL LITERACY WILL BE INTEGRATED IN SCHOOLS BY NEXT In his remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director-general (DG) of NITDA, said plans are underway to integrate digital literacy and skills into Nigeria’s school curricula by 2026. Inuwa said the move was necessary to align the technological growth of Nigeria’s young population with the government’s initiatives. “In Africa, we have a very young population, our citizens are digitally native and they are all online, therefore governments need to meet them where they are,” he said. “We have so many initiatives in Nigeria based on the ministry’s knowledge policy, we have the digital literacy framework, where we are working on integrating digital literacy into our formal education. “As of today, we have the approval in collaboration with the ministry of education and directive of the president that by next year, we should have digital literacy and skills integrated into our formal education.” The DG added that the government is also putting measures in place to enhance the digital competence of public servants for better service delivery in the public sector. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
