The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said unequivocally that the agency’s aim is to govern information technology for development, not the telecommunications industry.
As a result, telecommunications providers will be exempt from the NITDA Bill, which is presently being debated in the National Assembly.
This is according to the spokesperson of the Agency, Mrs Hadiza Umar, who provided a further explanation of this attitude in an interview, where she responded to the agitation of telecommunications providers who are wanting to be excluded from regulation under the proposed NITDA Bill.
“The NITDA does not seek to regulate the telecoms industry; rather, we seek to regulate information technology for development.” The only reference to telecoms in the Bill is the payment of the National Information Technology Development Fund. The fee is already included in the current bill, and we are not exempting them from paying it,” she explained.
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What the bill is all about
The proposed NITDA bill aims to establish a licensing system for Information Technology Industry and Digital Economy operators, with the Agency authorized to issue regulations outlining criteria for licensing, authorization, renewal, suspension, and revocation. The objective is to encourage free market competition in the sector.
Under the new system, the Agency will keep a register of Information Technology Industry and Digital Economy operators and publish it.
The NITDA Bill 2021 wants to be the regulator in the ICT sector, and this has been met with significant opposition and criticism due to its potential for overlapping and overbearing effects on certain functions. Industry analysts warn that if these issues are not addressed through simplification or removal, serious conflicts may arise in the sector.
Since the announcement of the controversial bill in 2021, stakeholders, operators, and startups have raised concerns at various forums about the ambiguous, overlapping, and overbearing provisions that could cause significant friction within the ICT/telecoms ecosystem.
Techpression reports that the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has expressed opposition to being regulated by the NITDA Bill and urged the National Assembly to remove them from any regulatory authority given to NITDA under the proposed legislation, arguing that the bill would replicate the regulatory functions already performed by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
Director General/CEO of the Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has however reiterated that the agency is dedicated to carrying out the National Digital Economy Policy to establish a digital Nigeria.
Its responsibility is to establish a structure for the preparation, exploration, development, standardization, implementation, coordination, supervision, assessment, and regulation of Information Technology operations in Nigeria.
According to him, the agency’s primary concerns are Developmental Regulation, Digital Literacy and Skills, Robust Infrastructure, Service Infrastructure, Digital Services Development and Promotion, Software Infrastructure, Digital Society, Emerging Technologies, and Indigenous Content Development and Adoption.
To improve digital literacy, the agency, in collaboration with Domineum Blockchain Solutions, recently unveiled the NITDA Blockchain Scholarship Scheme, with the objective of providing training on blockchain technology to 30,000 Nigerians.
This initiative aims to equip individuals with the necessary skills for pursuing careers in emerging technologies.