Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has informed Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), government-owned companies, that its efforts at streamlining and fast tracking IT projects’ clearing house mandate has been automated.
According to the statement by its Director General/CEO, Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim, the agency, in line with its mandate, had issued statements in 2016 calling on MDAs and other establishments of the Federal Government to submit for clearance IT projects to be executed before commencement of such projects.
He explained that the clearance process was designed to track government spending in IT and ensure synergy in national investments. It also aims at ensuring the availability of accurate statistics on government’s IT assets and investments to help government make informed decisions.
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The scheme includes preventing mismanagement of public funds and development of projects in silos where significant resources can be integrated to save cost, promote shared services, interoperability and improved efficiency.
NITDA added that this would ensure that technology being implemented is up to date and suitable for the country from the point of view of security and the environment.
Ibrahim stated that the IT projects’ clearance regulation is designed to ensure that IT projects are properly conceptualised and executed in line with global best practices.
Furthermore, it is designed to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption by curbing the wastages and mismanagement of public funds on frivolous IT projects. He said the process has facilitated the saving of over N13 billion to the Federal Government.