NITPA E&R TASK FORCE INITIATIVES
Abiodun O. Bada, PhD

NITPA E&R TASK FORCE INITIATIVES
These are the initiatives that we have identified as needing immediate attention. Please feel free to signify your intentions as to WHAT initiative(s) you want to work on, including a short description of WHAT specific assistance/contributions you are making:

1. Knowledge Building & Dissemination
(Under this category we have identified the following activities):

Joint research and publications between NITPA (foreign and home-based) E&R task force members. Identifying and applying for research grants. Under this scheme, we are planning to conduct a National IT Baseline Study with a view to understanding the 'state-of-the-art' as far as IT is concerned in Nigeria. Up till now what we have are anecdotes of different initiatives in different quarters. Therefore, this comprehensive study is imperative for the emergence of Nigeria as a major (global) player in IT. Anyone interested in participating should let me know as soon as possible. Further details will be sent as soon as we can constitute a team. Organizing joint conferences to disseminate and discuss important IT-related issues.

An instance of this collaboration is a Panel Presentation which we are planning to hold at the next Global IT Management Conference in Calgary, Canada in June 2003 (A proposal has been sent to the organizers of the conference). This presentation is scheduled to discuss (in depth) the importance of introducing 'Information Systems' (IS) as a discipline in Nigerian Higher Institutions of learning as opposed to just focusing on Computer Science (CS), which is what we currently have. A number of academics and practitioners in Nigeria have signified interests in this panel presentation. Anyone interested in participating should let me know as soon as possible. We are also planning to hold a conference of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Working Group 9.4 on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, in Nigeria in 2004. We have held preliminary talks with the current administrators of IFIP 9.4 from the London School of Economics (LSE) and they are interested in having this conference in Nigeria - in addition to other African countries such as Egypt and South Africa that have hosted previous conferences in 1994 and 2000 respectively. We are going to need volunteers and firm commitments, especially from Nigeria, in order to proceed with this.

2. Evaluation of Information Technology (IT) curriculum in Nigerian universities and polytechnics against projected national and global requirements.

Activities include:
-Survey of IS/IT/CS course offerings in Nigerian higher institutions of learning
-Survey of IS/IT implementation and use in different sectors of the economy
-Conduct a brain storming session of stakeholder groups to find out what their expectations of the skills and knowledge required for IS students and graduates in the country are?
-Compare results/expectations with current IT/IS/CS academic programs with a view to identifying 'gaps' and/or 'shared visions' in expectations.
The goal of this project is to develop an up-to-date and context-sensitive IT/IS curriculum in Nigeria. This project will involve, amongst others, an investigation of the portfolio of activities performed by Nigerian IT/IS professionals, their skills and knowledge requirements and relate these to the academic preparation (course offerings by academic institutions) of IT/IS professionals in the country, with a view to identifying gaps that may exist and incorporate this into the proposed curriculum. We need volunteers in the design and administration of survey instruments in Nigeria and members who are willing to work in conducting field studies, facilitating workshops and seminars in Nigeria. As soon as we have a team in place, further materials will be sent out.

3. Education and Training
(Under this category we have identified the following activities):
-Train the trainers
-Faculty/Student Exchange
-Training private and government employees
-The Nigerian IT 'Drivers License' to specify basic/minimum IT requirements for the job market.
-Computers for Schools
-Youth Mentorship Programs

Government recently launched a comprehensive IT policy and implementation strategy, which is expected to launch Nigeria as a "key player in the emerging Information Age". A core objective of this policy is to encourage "massive local and global IT skills acquisitions through training in the public and private sectors with the view to achieving a strategic medium-term milestone of at least 500,000 IT skilled personnel by 2004". This project, therefore, is targeted towards this particular initiative. We need ideas/suggestions - as well as volunteers - on what form these initiatives should take.