Federal government develops national policy on virtual meetings

Nigeria has developed a Draft Policy Document on Virtual meetings and engagements in the Federal Civil Service.

The Minister of  Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Pantami said this while delivering a lecture at the Course 82 graduation ceremony, National Defence College Abuja.

According to Dr Pantami, ”the draft document is ready to be presented at the Federal Executive Council in the coming weeks.”

The Minister said that ”the draft is in line with the Ministry mandate to promote a Digital Economy, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy in collaboration with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.”

”The Covid-19 Pandemic has forced us to adopt the use of technology in governance and this has necessitated the need to promote e-governance in an orderly manner.

“As enshrined in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy Document, the new Policy will promote the pillars of Service Infrastructure and Digital Services Development and Promotion represented as Pillars 4 and 5,” Dr. Pantami explained.

On the issue of security, the Minister stated that ”the real warfare is now fought in the cyberspace as cyber criminals operate at a speed far ahead of the speed of law, and therefore, we must take very deliberate steps to ensure that our cyberspace is significantly secured.”

Dr Pantami advocated the preference of skills over qualifications, saying that  global business and tech giants have since adopted the strategy, as individuals with proven skills remain more valuable than those with mere qualifications.