National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has today, Monday 18th October 2021 commenced a five days capacity training to upskill the members of Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA). Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, Director General, NITDA, said in his address at the training that this initiative to upskill fifty (50) journalists from NITRA is in line with the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS)
Inuwa said it was also the mandate of NITDA to provide Digital Literacy to the Nigerians in line with the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2021 to 2024 of president Muhammadu Buhari.
According to him, it is to intervene in the development of digital technology by supporting, promoting and facilitating digital skills and literacy programs and the development of innovative solutions for adoption and use in every facet of national life.
Inuwa who was represented by Mrs Chinyere Nwankwo, manager, Digital architecture said that the training would also support improvement of trust, confidence and security on the mode of media production and delivery.
He said that the training would also provide digital capacity for the management, storage and retrieval of digital information and content security.
According to him, the training will further shape the technological understanding of the participants needed in reporting the industry as well as their digital skills.
“It will help ICT journalists in news gathering and fact checking in this era fake news.
“In this our dynamic ICT world, several trends such as growing digitization, interconnectedness and convergence are often discussed by experts as well as laymen.
“Information and Communication Technology journalists play a significant part in disseminating, explaining and interpreting these new technologies and in facilitating our understanding of future trends,’’ he said.
According to him, it would also educate both their audience and developers they cover because digital literacy is now more important than ever.
Inuwa said that the ability to find, evaluate, utilize and create information using digital technology.” includes areas like online security, online communication responsibility, and digital ethics.
He said that most positions today require technological knowledge, organizations must provide training and education on ICT, or risk having the workforce being left behind.
The DG said that the employees with digital literacy skills were more competent in their work, as they easily identify important information, data, patterns and use them efficiently.
According to him, this is important because we are constantly being disrupted by new information and digital literacy skills also allow workers to use technology to collaborate and connect with each other and thus strengthen teamwork.
He however urged that the capacity training should be effectively applied to improve services in the industry and Nigeria at large.
Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, chairman of NITRA thanked NITDA for sponsoring the training.
He further urged members of NITRA to embrace the opportunity to learn, unlearn and relearn new skills to help them in carrying out their news reporting activities
“The essence of this capacity training is for us to upskill. We are aware that some of us have attended trainings within and outside Nigeria, however the dynamics of this industry where technology continues to evolve demands that we continue to train and retrain ourselves, hence NITDA training for NITRA members (1)
“We thought it wise to partner with an agency of the government on this project and NITDA being an outstanding agency deemed it wise to work with us.
“NITDA has been apt in its digital transformation strategy and from our observations; the processes are up to standards we see among private sector organisations”, Onwuegbuchi said.
