Source: Nigeria Communications Week
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) appears to invoke relevant sections of the guidelines regarding hosting of government data, particularly restricting Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) from going offshore to host.
In a statement signed by Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, director general/CEO of the Agency, he also reminded private sector organizations on the need for them to patronize Nigerian Data Centers.
According to Pantami, “The progress made in the adoption and utilization of ICT in both the public and private sectors of the economy makes hosting data and information inevitable. However, it is disheartening to note the current practices of both public and private sector organizations hosting data offshore, despite having highly reliable Tier III Data Centers, certified by various international organizations and guaranteeing almost 100% availability as well as multiple layers of security. Furthermore, hosting data locally guarantees reduction incost and capital flight, digital job creation, increased security, and increase in tax revenues thereby boosting the local economy.
“It may be recalled that Section 14.1 of the Guidelines for Nigerian Content Development in ICT makes it mandatory for Data and Information Management Firms to “Host government data locally within the country and shall not for any reason host any government data outside the country without an express approval from NITDA”.
“Furthermore, as stated in Section 14.3 of the Guidelines, the Agency is working with local data hosting firms to set appropriate service level requirements and standards for data service provisioning,” he said.
