The Korean International
Cooperation Agency (KOICA), said it would start the second phase of its capacity building on e-government for Nigerian officials in January 2016.
Project Manager, e-government Master Plan, Mr Kuk Hwan Jeong, said this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja, recently.
Jeong, who spoke on the side line of an evaluation workshop on the pilot phase of the e-government capacity building training, said 112 government officials were trained during its pilot phase.
“We are planning to resume the training in January. In the last three weeks we trained 112 officials for the pilot phase which was more than the initial 105 people.
“Their attendance was very impressive, with almost everybody attending daily.
“We are getting a lot of enthusiasm and positive feedback from those who participated in the programme.
“This sort of feedback is a very good way of getting Nigeria ahead on e-government; it is what motivates the e-government initiative and what we found out at this evaluation workshop is that the future of e-government in Nigeria is very bright.”
He added that several e-government training programmes put together by some ministries, departments and agencies would facilitate the involvement of necessary stakeholders in the process.
Jeong, however, urged trainees to enhance the cooperation and develop methods to implement the e-government master plan.
He also said there was a need for government, at all levels, to put in place necessary instruments that would drive the e-government initiative in Nigeria.
“Now what should be done is that those who have been trained should cooperate on ways to influence policy making decisions and implement the e-government initiative as defined by the master plan.
“What would be needed to successfully manage the e-government initiative are money, people and technology, also law and institutions and IT governance.
“The most challenging in this country is how to mobilise resource, not just financial but manpower.
“These two areas should be ready for e-government to be successfully implemented in the country,” he explained.
Also in his address, Mr Jung Sang-hoon, KOICA Country Director, reiterated the need for all partner organisations to enhance cooperation in promoting the initiative in Nigeria.
Jung said that the workshop was aimed at “improving and refining the pilot training programme.
“We organised this workshop to criticise and know the intensity of our efforts and also look at areas in which we can improve.
He also emphasised on the need for policy makers to be effectively involved in the e-government process.
The KOICA e-government project is expected to train 22, 625 Nigerian civil servants from 2015 to 2018 to reinforce their practical e-government capacity.
The South Korean Government, through KOICA, is investing a total of 8.56 million dollars on Capacity Building of e-Government in Nigeria between 2013 and 2018.
Partner organisations in the project include the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Public Service Institute of Nigeria and National Information Technology Development Agency.