The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has emphasized the need for the implementation of a service-wide Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution, as it will result in an annual saving of about N4.5 billion in Nigeria, which will help accelerate the digitisation and delivery of content services platforms in Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Inuwa, who was represented by the Director, Information Technology Infrastructure Solutions (ITIS) Dr. Usman Abdullahi, disclosed this while presenting a paper at the one-day ECM Service-Wide Round Table Workshop on ECM implementation with the topic “The Modalities of Software Clearance on ECM Solution for MDAs” at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.
In order to achieve a digital Nigeria, the DG stressed the importance of ECM implementation, saying it is a critical success factor required by any enterprise to survive in this modern and competitive post-Covid-19 world to aid information availability, agile business processes and conformity to governmental regulatory requirements.
He added that ECM addresses the limitations and provides the capabilities to effectively and efficiently manage the challenges imposed by the demanding business requirements of the modern world.
According to him; “Constraints such as complexity of massive volumes of variant data and information that exists in a broad array of formats, complex and extended business processes spanning across the business functions and partners around the globe, the need for integration and interoperability, fulfillment of compliance to legal and regulatory requirements are expected to be resolved by the implementation of the ECM”.
“Digitalisation of Government processes facilitates transparency, efficiency, productivity, participation, inclusiveness, cost savings, and competitive advantage, which ultimately translates to social and economic development for a country like Nigeria. Therefore, digitalisation of Government processes is no longer a choice, but a must for any country aiming for development”. He said
Inuwa also listed some of the benefits of ECM to Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) to include; saving employees time for mining information from physical paper documents, reduced cost of file storage and paper needs, and strengthening security by ensuring information confidentiality, integrity, availability, and increase in regulatory compliance.
He referred to the Federal Government’s directive which was reissued on the 31st August, 2018 with Circular Number 59736/S.2/C.II/125, after it’s first issuance in April 18th, 2006, reiterating the need for all Federal Public Institutions (FPIs) and other Government establishments to relate with and obtain clearance before embarking on any IT project.
He noted that to ensure seamless implementation of this mandate, NITDA issued a Guideline on IT Project Clearance in line with the need for a coordinated, standardized, and orderly approach to the deployment of IT systems by FPIs.
The DG disclosed that a total of 258 projects from 97 FPIs amounting to a total investment of N152,043,373,117.25 were cleared, in 2021 and a total of N24,403,266,842.86 was saved for the Government in the same year.
In consideration of the tremendous success of the IT Projects Clearance process, the Federal Executive Council, at its sitting on the 9th March 2022, approved that FPIs must obtain a Quality Assurance Certificate from NITDA for any cleared IT project that is up to N1,000,000,000.00 or more, prior to the closure of the project.
While applauding the initiative by the Head of Service of the Federation in setting the pace for the implementation of ECM, Inuwa called on all FPIs to key into this initiative and submit their ECM projects for Clearance by NITDA.
In her opening remarks, the Head of Service, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan elaborated on some of the processes that have been engaged in the implementation of the ECM.
She stated that her office set up a culture change joint project committee in July 2020, which delivered the solution, reduced the status of ECMs in various Local Government Areas, did a review of the functional and technical requirements of the ECMs platform, developed request for a proposal for the procurement of the service provider, and went ahead to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in the office of the Head of the Service and all other LGAs and have also looked at deploying infrastructural support for the effective implementation of ECM.
She added that through the collaboration and support of the Federal Ministry of communication and Digital Economy, a change and communication management team was established to conduct risk management of the ECMs, and that 16 MDAs and staff in LGAs and the office of the Head of Service, have already been trained.