NCC, NITDA To Support Media ICT Growth Conference, Awards 2021

The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Tuesday renewed their support for the industry media body, the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA).

Chairman, NITRA, Chike Onwuegbuchi said in a statement that the ICT regulatory bodies made the pledge when he visited to intimate them of the stakeholders’ engagement event, NITRA ICT Growth Conference 2021, scheduled for Lagos on Nov. 11.

Onwuegbuchi said that the event was targeted to bring stakeholders in the ICT industry, from the public and private sectors, to discuss and find ways of accelerating growth in the industry.

He said it was a means of achieving laudable federal government set targets and policies including those recorded in policy documents by the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, the NCC and NITDA.

According to him, these documents include NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2021-2024); The Nigerian Cybercrime Act of 2015; and the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content (NPPIC).

According to him, others include the National Telecommunications Policy; the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025; National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) among others.

“While looking at policies and regulations around the sub-sectors, the event will further look into challenges such as multiple taxation and regulations as well as high cost of Right of Way (RoW),"

“Others are theft of telecoms facilities, policy issues, Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Bill and cybersecurity issues; and ways of tackling these challenges effectively,"

“Under “NITRA ICT Growth Conference”, which seeks to bring a multi-sectoral development agenda, NITRA is organising a multi-panel interactive conference that will look at the theme: “Harmonising ICT Sub-Sectors towards a Digitalised Nigeria”.

“Specifically, the Forum will offer stakeholders the opportunities of reassessing and reinvigorating some policies to make maximum impact in the growth of ICT in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Onwuegbuchi, however, commended the regulators for their support for the event and passion for the growth of technology in Nigeria.

He noted that the growth in the ICT industry would impact all other sectors of the economy positively.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the highlight of the NITRA ICT Growth Conference would be award presentations to key players in the industry.