The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, said Nigeria is in a firm position to power the workforce the world requires in technology.
Persecondnews reports that the technology talent pool globally is severely diluted.
According to figures coming out from WEF, an estimated 150 million new technology jobs will be created globally over the next five years.
With over three-quarters (77%) of all jobs set to require digital skills from workers by 2030, right now, only a third (33%) of technology jobs worldwide are filled by the necessary skilled labor.
Bearing this in mind, Tijani said on Wednesday: “We want Nigeria to be a net exporter of technical talents; most of the global countries are ageing and they need technical assistance for technology.
“So Nigeria is in a very firm position to power the workforce that the world needs in terms of technology.”The minister also spoke about the commitment of the federal government to digitalize the public sector.
He added: “When government is intentional with how we use technology to deliver government services, not only do you create opportunities for citizens to benefit and get access to the public services they need.
“It is also to create the foundation for private service to be delivered in a manner that can actually save people.
“The core of every society is identifying your people, creating an enabling environment for them to access education and health, and also providing security.
“If these services are digitalized, it gives citizens easy access, and create awareness of government, and smooth pathway to real-time information that the government can use to inform decisions.”
Tijani also disclosed that the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) project has started, stating that it is a critical enabler of digital transformation that shapes and improves public service delivery at scale.
“It will allow us to share data between different services, making it easy for the President to sit in his office and monitor what is happening in the country,” PersecondNews quotes Tijani as saying.
Responding to the question on the funding of the DPI, which will cost $2 billion, Tijani said: “So many investors want to be part of it; the government is not paying, but will guarantee the loan for private companies.
“If the federal government pays, we won’t achieve our objective.We are not just concerned about securing the loan; we are determined to ensure that a significant part of Nigeria is covered and connected.
“We are committed to connecting all public institutions digitally.”
Author
Leave a comment