Enugu state government has assured its readiness to domesticate the digital economy, e-governance bills when passed into law.
Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation , Dr. Lawrence Eze made this known in his address at the digital economy, e-governance stakeholders ‘engagement organised by the Federal ministry of Innovation and Communications in conjunction with Enugu state Government on Tuesday at the Old Government Lodge, Enugu.
Pix: Participants
He said the state Governor had brought many innovations to the state , introduced the e-payment system, Computer training for workers, building of Smart Green schools that were technologically and digitally- driven and had ensured that governance in Enugu state was digitized.
The commissioner noted that the stakeholders’ engagement on the bill was a national program and the bill when passed into Law, will enable the growth of digital economy and digital governance in Nigeria.
Pix: Commissioner for Science,Technology and Innovation, Dr. Lawrence Eze
He urged participants to do their best and ensure that the voices of Enugu people were added in the bill. He assured that Enugu State Government will not waste time to pass the bill into law.
Pix: Arinze Chilo- Offiah , SPA, MSME, Digital Economy
On his part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on MSME, Digital Economy, Arinze Chilo – Offiah said the bill will help in improving Cyber security, promote digital economy and governance.
He said Enugu state Government was upskilling the digital training for Civil servants in the state and over 14,000 workers had so far been trained.
” We are moving to e- governance. We have e- governance platform where information is pushed. We are already incorporating this e- governance framework in Enugu to ensure we meet our target of growing our Gross Domestic Product to $30billion “, he said.
Pix Hon. Onyebuchi, Enugu House of Assembly
Also, in his goodwill message, Hon Malachy Onyechi, House of Assembly member representing Nsukka, said the State House of Assembly had started conversation on e- governance and digital economy. He added that the state government had digitized the ministry of lands , established the Enugu Geographical Information System ( ENGIS) where land searches were done. The Lawmaker assured that Enugu state will adopt the bill once the federal government approved it
Pix: Jeffery Nwalima
Earlier in his presentation, Jeffery Nwalima of Duala- Ovia and Ale Law firm, said the bill will promote transparency , accountability. and public trust . It will enable people to see what the government is doing and also enable the digital economy to grow.
He said the bill will run in phases: 0-2years will cover digital training and build basic infrastructure for the services. Major term, 3-5 years, to cover implementation, skills, e-services, technological services while the medium term will deal with application of knowledge and the last phase,5years and above, is on adoption.
” It i is a bill that will set Nigeria into a standard and have Nigeria to be one of the best economies in the world . He said ..
Participants made various contributions which included need for an extensive public enlightenment of the bill, provision of security of those into Tech, provision of infrastructure among others
Author Maureen Ikpeama