When National Digital Economy and E-Governance Act 2024 becomes a law, it will be mandatory for public institutions (agencies of government) to establish an ICT Unit and the law requires the staffing of that Unit with professionals who are capable of driving the DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION agenda of the government agency.
Notice that I capitalised the phrase: [ Digital Transformation]
What is currently obtainable in most government agencies is a situation where few IT personnel are recruited to manage the entire gamut of the agency’s IT systems, in some cases, despite the clear need for professionals with targeted (specialist) knowledge.
To explain above, an agency with an Enterprise IT System containing, Network infrastructure – both wired and wireless, software systems, web applications including a front-facing website, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems, Database systems, etc, would recruit a few graduates of computer science or related IT discipline to manage the entire organisation’s IT services, neglecting the fundamental aspect of professional development that requires one to develop core knowledge in a specific area without completely abandoning general (basic) skill.
In the above scenario, a computer graduate who probably has Network Engineering knowledge would be expected to perform Information Security duties, Database Management systems, website management, etc.
For God’s sake, the Information technology discipline is quite wide. One is not expected to be the master of all.
Public institutions must therefore make provisions to hire professionals in relevant key areas of their IT systems.
In reference to the capitalized phrase: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, Part IX Section of 48 of the Draft Bill clearly used the phrase DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION and stated thus:
For effective execution of the provisions under this Act, there shall be established in every public institution an ICT Unit with such number of staff as may be required for efficient performance, effective service delivery, and digital transformation of functions in the respective public institution.
Given the above requirement by the ACT, there will clearly be a need for Digital Transformation Specialists.
“Forecasts create the mirage that the future is knowable.” – Peter Bernstein
I saw this future coming, the reason I enrolled for a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Digital Transformation [ https://www.nexford.edu/ms/digital-transformation ] with Nexford University.
When opportunity meets preparation…..
Destiny Young, Technology Infrastructure, Cybersecurity and IT Ops Engineer
