Major stakeholders in Nigeria’s ICT sector have praised the Nigerian government for promoting local development of computer hardware and software.
While speaking at the presentation of four new software products developed by Domino Information Company Limited (DICL), a local IT company, the director general of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Prof. Cleopas Angaye said the Nigerian government is committed to the development of the nation’s IT sector.
He added that the government is always ready to assist ambitious and innovative local entrepreneurs in the areas of encouragement and facilitating meaningful partnerships as long as the innovations meet acceptable international standards.
In furtherance of the government’s gesture, he said his agency is also patronizing IT products that are made in Nigeria. He said he has given directive that made-in-Nigeria computer applications should be patronized in addition to the agency’s computers all which are assembled in Nigeria.
“Last year, we set up a research grant which is going on for people who are into software and all that. NITDA is working with the Ministry of Technology to provide funds for software development and incubation.
“So far, we have received over a hundred applications, and the government would see how it could key into the innovations presented today particularly the software on procurement, which hopes to address the bureaucracy and bottleneck usually associated with the issue of procurement in Nigeria,” Prof. Angaye said.
The products launched are aimed at improving day-to-day operations of public and private businesses. They are Domino Public-Procure, Domino e-Gov Toolkit, Domino Business-Procure and the Business Manager Tenders Toolkit.
Also speaking at the event, the CEO of Domino Information Company Limited, Mr. Uzo Nduka, said the software presented were developed by Nigerians who have been trained and live in Nigeria, and who understand the current challenges that the nation is facing.
“They’ve been able to come up with software solutions that public and private enterprises can deploy on a daily basis,” he said.
