By Prince Osuagwu

GIVEN the rapid evolution of technology solutions and their possible applications on governance, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta and the President, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina have been scheduled to speak at the fifth edition of The Nigeria eGovernment Summit, scheduled to hold on Thursday, September 28, 2023 at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, organised by DigiServe Network Services.

Other keynote speakers that have confirmed their attendance at this year’s annual eGovernment Summit, include: the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Chairman Joint Tax Board (JTB), Mr. Muhammad Nami, Chief Executive Officer, 9Mobile Nigeria, Mr Juergen Peschel, the Managing Director/CEO, Open Access Data Centres, Dr. Ayotunde Coker and The Director, Public Policy, Meta (Facebook), Ms Adaora Ikenze.

With the theme ‘eGovernment: Pathway to a Prosperous Nation’, the organisers seek to promote adoption of technology in governance and showcase technologies and strategies required for eGovernment adoption in Governments.

The Executive Chairman, DigiServe Network Services,  Engr Lanre Ajayi, said letters have been written to all keynote speakers and panelists and confirmation to attend also received.

According to Ajayi, “eGovernment, which is the adoption of technology in government processes and service delivery, makes government service delivery efficient and cost effective. It introduces transparency in governance and builds trust between government and the governed.”

“This year edition of the Nigeria eGovernment Summit, which is the fifth in the series, will not only serve to promote eGovernment to the new administration, but will also focus on strategies and technologies required in its deployment. Technology service providers will share their knowledge and showcase their products, invited agencies of Government at Federal and state level will present use cases of eGovernment in their domains, while international experts will share with us international best practices” Ajayi said in a statement.

The eGovernment Summit will feature breakout panel sessions, where seasoned experts will discuss front burning issues as they relate to technology and governance.

Ajayi listed some of the topics for discussion at the various panel sessions, to include: Positioning Telecoms Infrastructure for eGovernment Deployment; International Best Practices in eGovernment; People’s Expectations in a Technology Driven Society; Communication, Financial Inclusion and Data Protection as a Fundamental Human Right; and Policy Protection for Infrastructure Investment.

The earlier editions of the Nigeria eGovernment Summit recorded astounding success with quality presentations from high level speakers. This year’s summit promises to improve on the success of the previous summits, with a view to enhancing the experience of expected participants, Ajayi further said.