BY EVELYN ZORZOR
TO fully harness the potentials of the fast growing digital economy, attention has been drawn on the need to speed up processes leading to the enactment of a working policy on Information Communication (ICT), especially as it relates to gender inclusivity.
This was brought to the fore by the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN), during a policy roundtable discussion on Tech/ICT Reforms in Delta State, held in Asaba, under the project, ‘Reducing the Digital Gender Gap in the Niger Delta’, funded by the European Union.
Discussions and recommendations based on research carried out in selected states in the Niger Delta centered on the need for a policy framework that would help drive economic growth, while increasing the female gender participation in an ICT driven global economy.
According to the Deputy Programmes Manager of SDN, Mrs. Ifeoma Ndekwu, the aim of the roundtable was ”to bring together different stakeholders especially key persons in government, Civil Society Organizations and tech industries to discuss the findings of our research and how we can utilize those findings to improve the economy of Delta State.
“In our recommendations, we called for an ICT policy which is supposed to be the roadmap that guides the state on what it aims to achieve in terms of its digital economy.
“Thus the absence of such an ICT policy means that there are just scattered interventions that are not being done collectively to achieve something. And so one of the key things we are advocating for is that this state has an ICT policy and not just that, but also one that is gender inclusive”, she noted.
Part of the strong points on which the policy recommendations were founded were the findings of research which read thus, “With an overall high level of internet use in the Niger Delta compared to other regions, the market and benefits for going digital are high.
“Women are currently being left behind but public and private initiatives can ensure that they benefit from increased access to information and services, and play leading roles in the emerging future digital economy”.
Thus the organization’s recommendation on objectives guiding the policy creation read in part, “Address affordability, the primary barrier, increase awareness and skills for all types of users as well as integrate specific initiatives for women and girls”.
Meanwhile, the Director of ICT in the State Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. Rocky Ighoyota confirmed that the state was already driving the process for an ICT policy. “Delta state has just created a committee to draft an ICT policy for the state, of which I am the chairman. The state government is also in serious talk with two organizations that are going to provide fiber connectivity across the state. “With the establishment of this infrastructure, the IT world is going to be opened up for everyone in the state because many organizations are going to leverage on the broadband connectivity”.
Ighoyota agreed that an available framework would make the job of achieving a vibrant digital economy easier for the state government because, according to him, “You cannot be acquiring IT infrastructure without a document that is going to back how the infrastructure can be accessed and that is why the policy is very crucial, especially as it is going to address key issues”.
