ICT critical to national development —Permanent Secretary

THE Permanent Secretary, ministry of Communications, Mr Sonny  Echono, has said that Information and Communication Technology (ICT), remains critical to national development and must be promoted at all levels in the country.

Echono, said this during the year 2017 Girls in ICT Day celebration organised by the Ministry of Communications held at Nigeria Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT), headquarters, Abuja.

He also called for gender balance in the ICT sector at all levels of education and profession, saying that investing in women and girls had a multiplier effect.

He emphasised the key role women play in reducing poverty and promoting social and economic development, while quoting the former United Nations Secretary General, Banki Moon, as saying “Equality for Women and Girls is not only a basic human right; it is a social and economic imperative”.

The Permanent Secretary said ICT was an essential tool for social and economic development, which could provide education, job training, promoting literacy, improve access to healthcare, enable the exercise of legal rights and participation in government.

He disclosed that part of the ministry mandate was to encourage gender balance in the ICT field, saying this led to development of “The Smart Woman Nigeria Initiative”, an initiative that includes a wide range of programmes that is targeted at building the capacity of Nigerian women and girls as well as provide increased access to global information that is able to improve their socio-economic wellbeing.

One of such programme is the Digital Girls Club that is particularly designed to build ICT Capacity among Nigerian Secondary School Girls thus increasing their chances of early interest in ICT and related careers.

International Girls in ICT Day is an initiative supported by all International Telecommunication Union (ITU) member states aimed at creating a global environment that empowers and encourage girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of Information and Communication technologies thus enabling both the girls and ICT companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector.

The  year 2017 Girls in ICT Day Celebration was organised by the ministry in conjunction with its agencies, namely; National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Digital Bridge Institute), Galaxy Backbone Plc and NigComSat, and it attracted 16 Secondary Schools with 100 students and their teachers and they were taken on a Hand-on Workshop on creating a Blog Site, Website Development, and Graphic Designs and Animation at Digital Bridge Institute (DBI).

Other event included tour of NIGCOMSAT and Galaxy Backbone facilities and a Career Fair where selected female role models in the ICT sector had interactive session with the students.