The United Nations University on E governance (UNU-EGOV) at the weekend considered 151 Research papers on digital transformation and e-governance for the development of African economy and transformation.
The Research papers were prepared by over 308 authors from across the world who participated in the 18th edition of ICEGov at the Shehu Musa Yar Adua centre, Abuja.
No fewer than 508 participants from 51 countries attended the conference with the theme: “shaping the future of digital governance through cooperation, innovation and inclusion.” The 18th edition was organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, the Director of UNU-EGOV, Delfina Soares praised Nigeria for investing heavily in digital infrastructures and training of the citizenry, stating that Nigeria is on the right track in its digital transformation plan.
Soares said she has been in constant touch with the digital transformation drive in Nigeria and that the government is serious about the plan.
“Before I came here, I did my work, I tried to understand. By the way, we have been in contact and having some cooperation in Nigeria for a long time. Since 2018, we have delegations from Nigeria participating and attending ICEGOV
“I could understand the priority that the country has been given to this topic. And now here, in the multiple discussions and as you heard at the closing ceremony, we received a lot of papers from authors from Nigeria and it is very clear, not just for me, I think for all the community now, the developments that the country is doing in this area.”
Speaking on what to expect from ICEGOV she said, “We expect that it continues to be a platform to gather together all the relevant stakeholders so that we can jointly face this challenge. Because we are talking about digital technology and digital transformation, that can bring a lot of benefits and that can have a huge impact on citizens, in the life of a country.”
The Programme Chair for ICEGOV 2025 Conference, Prof. Adegboyega Ojo, of the Carleton University Canada, noted that, “government is providing a platform for dialogue regarding how technology can be used to improve the way government works in general.
“Whether it’s really about the way they work internally or the way they develop their policies or the way they provide services to the public,” Prof Ojo said.
The Special Assistant on Innovation and Research to the Director General of NITDA, Lukman Lamid said the government hopes to implement the recommendations of the conference.
“We expect that at the end of this conference, some of the recommendations and best practices that have been talked about here are going to be put together to be a framework for us to develop our digital economy in Nigeria.”
Lead Business Analyst on Digital Development Initiatives at Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN ), Dr. Robert Ifeonu, who won the research paper category award at the conference, said, “Essentially, it’s presenting a new approach to driving digital transformation in public sector, and the backdrop is a history of failure and unsuccessful digital transformation projects in the public sector, not just in developing countries, It’s a problem that we see even in developed countries as well. Projects that fail, resources are wasted, and it has a cascading effect on citizens trust in government.”
