Tech community stresses importance of harnessing digital technology to sustain government

Members of the civic tech community in Kaduna State said on Wednesday that leveraging digital technology was key to sustaining the gains of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in the state.

Civic tech is the use of digital technologies to support citizens' involvement in governance and amplify their voices.

The technology experts stated this in Kaduna at a panel discussion at the Ihifix Digital Summit for Development, organized by Ihifix Technologies in partnership with the Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment, and Development (CALPED).

Mr. Ifeanyi Morah, Chief Executive Officer, Schoolmo Technologies, said that technology was at the center of facilitating citizens' engagement to entrench transparency and accountability in governance.

Morah, who is also the co-founder of Kesaa Technologies, however, noted that only a few citizens know about OGP, adding that only digital technology could bridge the knowledge gap.

According to him, digital platforms such as social media and other web applications are critical to community sensitization and the dissemination of information about the OGP.

"Digital platforms also serve as enablers for citizens' access to critical information for effective engagement in the governance process."

"Technology is not actually the solution but an accelerator, a catalyst to a solution, and as such, we need digital technology to help solve our problems."

"However, how many people can interact with digital tools?" "We need to improve digital literacy, otherwise we will be leaving a larger segment of the population out of the OGP initiative," he said.

He commended the Kaduna State Government for deepening civic technology in the governance process and urged ministries, departments, and agencies to internalize the initiative.

Similarly, Mr. Raphael Isah, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Greysoft Technologies, also thanked the government for putting technology at the center of its governance.

Isah congratulated Kaduna State for being the first sub-national entity to hold a summit on the metaverse, a shared virtual space created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical and digital reality.

He also described social media as a "powerful tool" that could be used to reach anyone from any part of the world and get feedback almost immediately.

Isah stressed the need for sensitization to enlighten the people on the state's dive towards the use of technology in addressing people's needs and problems.

Earlier, Mr. Jose Calderon from Colombia, in a keynote address, described digital technology as a "veritable tool" for inclusive democracy.

According to him, with digital technology, people will participate in governance and decision-making processes from the comfort of their homes because of the ability to break down distance barriers.

Also, Mr. Muhammad Kassim, Citizen's Co-Chair, OGP Technical Working Group on Open Contracting, noted that technology was at the heart of government reforms on procurement processes to curb corruption.

Kassim said that the government was already reaping the benefits of the Eyes and Ears App, the e-procurement system, the Open Contracting Data Standard portal, and other digital platforms in promoting citizen engagement.

He, however, added that much still needed to be done in deploying more technology to strengthen citizens with a view to sustain the gains of OGP and entrench transparency and accountability.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Hajiya Umma Aboki, Kaduna State Commissioner for Planning and Budget Commission, was honored with the Kaduna OGP Leadership Award for her commitment to open and participatory governance.

Also, Mr. Philip Yatai, a Principal Correspondent with NAN, and eight others were also honored at the event as Kaduna OGP Ambassadors in recognition of their support in promoting the principle of OGP.

Others were Mr. Abel Adejor, State Team Lead, PERL; Mr. Istifanus Akau, State Partnership Facilitator, PERL; Mrs. Jummai Bako, Director Monitoring and Evaluation, PBC; and Mr. Idris Suleiman, Director Budget, PBC.

Mr Badamasi Musa, Director State Planning, PBC; Ms Linda Yakubu, Director Development Aid Coordination, PBC; Mr Tara Jeremiah, OGP Point of Contact; and Mohammed Adamu, of the Ministry for Local Government Affairs, were also among those honored.

NAN reports that the event was supported by the Partnership to Engage, Reform, and Learn (PERL), a governance program of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO).