By EMEKA AGINAM

Following four months of an intensive independent study focused on the Gaps in Data Privacy and Security in cloud services in the country, the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) has presented the first draft of its findings to key stakeholders at a consultative round table held in Abuja recently.

However, one of the key objectives of the study is to see how adoption of cloud services could be promoted in Nigerian educational system.

Given the importance of cloud computing for ICT based education, the report among other things noted that both the Federal and the States Ministry of Education and the National University Commission should guide secondary schools and tertiary institutions to upgrade their ICT curriculum and courses to include a wide range of cloud computing services and technology and also build the capacity of teachers.

The report which examined the statutory framework with a comparative analysis of data protection laws in the United States, United Kingdom, India and South Africa also stated that recent studies indicated that Nigeria with an estimated 36 percent of businesses currently using cloud services will soon overtake Kenya (48 per cent) and South Africa (50 percent).

With participation drawn from the academia, policy makers, legislature, government, media , among others, the study further noted that Ministry of Education should encourage educational institutions to have a plan of action for the adoption of cloud services.

Accordingly, the report which had major recommendations for SMEs and the Education sector revealed that many SMEs using ICT have a mix of cloud and non-cloud based solutions.

The research further recommended that SME associations such as SMEDAN and the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) can through regular workshops and seminars assist their members understand the costs of supporting the different elements of their existing IT models and how they can successfully integrate cloud computing into their overall IT strategy.

Presenting the report, the Director of Research, NIALS and Head of the Research Team, Professor Lanre Fagbohun explained that the research was undertaken with the primary goal of understanding how data privacy, security of data, data sovereignty/ localization and management should be approached and to better access the impact of fundamental apprehensions like entrusting the safety of vital and in some cases confidential data to a 3rd party, among others.

He further revealed that privacy concerns associated with the access, use and sharing of cloud based data, service reliability, lack of clarity in the cost-benefit analysis of how cloud service savings compares with existing operations and fears over vendor lock-in as a result of dependence on a cloud provider’s service on the rate of adoption of cloud services in Nigeria were part of the reasons for the study.

Explaining the rationale for the choice of the states the study focused on Professor Fagbohun explained that these states have a good representation of the educational institutions and SMEs and their regulatory institutions.

He said that the study among other things looked at the benefits of adopting cloud computing , avoidance of costly up-front capital investments in IT infrastructure, and many more.

For Prof. Adedeji Adekunle, Director-General, NIALS, earlier in his address said that cloud computing has been revealed to be the future model of information technology.

He noted that the study involved three months of rigorous work by research professors and fellows of NIALS who examined not only the existing policy and regulatory framework, but, also went to the field to collect credible data to substantiate the desk research outcomes.

He expressed the view that the recommendations would help to address concerns with data governance while also maximising socio-economic and environmental benefits of cloud computing”.