Oyo State sets landmark achievement

…Wins In All Categories Including Overall Best State In Digital Technology Development

Oyo State has emerged the best State in Digital Technology Human Capital Development, Best State in Digital Technology Infrastructure Development, runner up in E-government Implementation and overall best state in Digital Technology Development at the just concluded 9th regular meeting of the National Council on Communications and Digital Economy (NCCDE).

With the theme “Utilising Digital Technology To Accelerate Economic Recovery In A Post COVID-19 Era And Beyond”, the 9th regular meeting of the NCCDE, which was chaired by the Honourable Minister for Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami took place from Friday 10 to Monday, 13, December, 2021 at the NAUWA event centre, Mambilla barracks, Asokoro, FCT, Abuja.

The programme which lasted for four days had in attendance Heads of various parastatals under the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, such as Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE; Managing Director Galaxy Backbone, Professor Muhammed Bello Abubakar; Managing Director NigComSat, Ms. Abimbola Alale; Representative of the Executive Vice President of Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Post Master General of NIPOST, Dr. Ismail Adewusi; Hon. Minister of FCT, Mallam Mohammed Musa Bello; Commissioners of Science and Technology and Heads of ICT Agencies from the 36 States of the Federation as well as other dignitaries.

During the State peer review session, all States presented their State’s ICT roadmap in front of the judges and all participants were sectioned in three categories – Digital Technology Human Capacity Development, Digital Technology Infrastructure development and E-governance Implementation.

The Special Assistant (SA) to the Oyo State Governor on ICT and E-governance, Mr. Bayo Akande, while presenting on behalf of Oyo State, highlighted the State’s achievement in each category. He said: “For Digital Technology Human Capacity Development, the state partnered with Oracle Academy to train computer Science teachers in all State-owned schools on programming languages foundations. We also partnered with Tech4Dev to organise digital skills training for civil servants in the State and individuals in rural clusters, persons living with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups, including the National Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (NDPR).”

He further said: “Oyo State Government has also drafted a framework that would ensure all civil servants are trained yearly on current tech trends and basic digital skills for efficient work practices amongst other initiatives. At the end of this session, Oyo State emerged the Best State in the Digital Technology Human Capacity Development category.”

Akande also highlighted some of Oyo State’s achievements in the area of ICT Infrastructure development. He mentioned the Harmonised Fibre Infrastructure policy, which the State plans to implement in the next few months to give room for zero tariff on right of way. He also spoke about the Oyo State Infrastructure Management and Control Agency (OYSIMCA), a one-stop shop for all ICT infrastructure issues and a first point of contact for all ICT Service providers who want to liaise with the state government.

On the protection of ICT infrastructure Akande said: “The Oyo State Infrastructure Management and Control Agency

(OYSIMCA) task force responds swiftly to any complaints about fibre vandals and illegal infrastructure. He added that the Oyo state government has provided high-speed Internet connectivity across the secretariat, which led to Oyo State emerging as the Best State in Digital Technology Infrastructure development.

While speaking on E-government implementation, that led to the State emerging the second runner up, The SA on ICT and E-governance mentioned the various E-government applications and portals such as the Oyo State job portal, Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) Platform, the standard official web portal which houses so many Government Services online, the e-procurement portal, SMS notification application used by the Oyo State Emergency Operation Centre, the education portal others.
All relevant links, screenshots and pictures of each category were provided during the presentation.

At the end of all sessions, Oyo State won the overall Best State award in digital technology Implementation/winner in the implementation of the development pillars of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).

Akande who appreciated the state Governor Seyi Makinde said: “The Governor gave me the opportunity to carry out his ICT vision for the State. He has always understood from the very beginning that digital technology development is crucial to achieving his roadmap for accelerated development in Oyo State. We will be rolling out more innovations in the years to come”.

All the winners were presented with award plaques by Heads of various parastatals who presented the award for the Best State in digital technology Infrastructure development and the Overall Best State in digital technology development.