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Inuwa praises the volunteer panel of experts
Due to the immense potential of artificial intelligence in revolutionizing technology and innovation, the Nigerian government, through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has finalized the first draft of the National Policy on Artificial Intelligence, which will soon be ready for submission to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The draft Artificial Intelligence Policy, jointly prepared by a team from NITDA and 63 industry experts from 351 volunteer applications from Nigeria and abroad after expression of interest, was published in October 2022.
Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of NITDA, commended the group for the “extraordinary work in developing policy for Nigeria” during the volunteer group’s recent virtual meeting.
He said NITDA initiated the process of helping to shape the policy because the agency strongly believes that there are things it can do as a government entity that the ecosystem cannot, and there are things the ecosystem cannot can do what the government cannot do, “but together we can do greater things.”
While emphasizing the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize the world, transform industries and save lives by curing incurable diseases and reversing genetic disorders, Inuwa claimed that it also poses significant risks such as bias, invasion of privacy and displacement of jobs explain why this is imperative for a policy to guide the development and deployment of AI in Nigeria.
He said a strategic implementation plan is being drawn up to ensure the policy achieves the purpose for which it was formulated, adding that the agency will liaise with its various stakeholders and then submit it to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to be sent to the FEC for approval.
“The NITDA Secretariat will now take over the design of the document and continue to work on getting it ready for publication,” he explained.
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He noted that what the volunteers have achieved with the policy is commendable and hiring them is a results-oriented approach, as most of the time consultants are tasked with drafting policies it always ends up haphazard, because they lack the technical knowledge. like the item, but the sourcing processes always give them an edge over the industry professionals.
The NITDA chief described the draft as robust and outlined seven main areas covered by the policy to include education and research; finance; Health; media and telecommunications; work and productivity; General and specific topics (e.g. building safe and responsible AI, ensuring digital visibility of Nigerian culture and values); and security.
He congratulated the volunteers on “a job well done” in ensuring the national mandate is realized, but said the policy would enable the nation to create and derive value from it and the pitfalls and dangers that come with it to avoid.
Inuwa assured them that a letter of recommendation would be sent to them as no amount of money could diminish the dedication they had expended in drafting the policy.
Mr. Emmanuel Edet, NITDA’s General Counsel, previously noted in his welcome remarks that NITDA adopted the co-creation model in developing the policy because it “would lead us in the right direction and create a policy that would be effective is and functional in promoting the digital economy sector.”
He expressed the agency’s appreciation of the volunteer experts and asked for their response if they were called again.
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