Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will by the year 2020 separate developed countries from non-developed ones, according to projections by the World Bank.

Dr Armstrong Takang, chairman of the Committee on ICT for Development (ICT 4D) plan, made this known to newsmen in Abuja recently while talking on the ICT 4D plan.

“The World Bank had projected in 2008 that information technology would be responsible on a scale of 70 to 30 per cent for determining real growth in most countries from 2015”, he said.

Takang, who was speaking on how the ICT 4D plan would promote education at all levels, stated that ICT is one of the best performing sectors in the World Bank’s portfolio in terms of returns and development impacts.

He stated that the programme would be implemented at the national level, saying that it will target teaching and non-teaching staff of primary, secondary and tertiary schools.

“This will develop human resources desirable for teaching, research and development in schools and will develop human resources for the management of ICT facilities deployed to schools”, he said.

He said the programme would train a critical mass of Nigerian school teachers on the basic principles and practices of ICT.

“It will provide teachers the knowledge of the applications of ICT facilities in teaching and learning as well as acquisition of skills on the operation and maintenance of ICT facilities.

“It will also  accelerate mass acquisition of the knowledge of ICT by the core and critical class of Nigerian manpower that is traditionally involved in human resource development at the school level”, he said.

Dr Takang said many ICT projects had failed due to poor participation and involvement of the staff on ground and users’ departments with regards to development, operation and maintenance.

He, however, said the ICT 4D plan would provide a vehicle for awareness, appreciation and use of ICT by teaching and non teaching staff of schools.

According to him, the programme will improve productivity of health care administration system and would also reduce cost of healthcare delivery.

He said ICT could be used for the study and control of epidemics as well as to provide an information system to educate the populace on preventable diseases.

“The provision of ICT”, he said, “can impact on improving the spate of all the parameters for vision 20-2020.”

Sogbeba Dokubo