The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has highlighted some events that will take place during this year’s one-week National Privacy Week.
Giving a breakdown of the events at a press conference yesterday, the Director-General of NITDA, Mal. Kashifu Inuwa, noted that there will be a Privacy Tech Expo for today being Tuesday 26th of January 2021.
The Privacy Tech Expo, according to him is the first of its kind and is conceptualized to promote Nigerian innovations around privacy and data protection. “NITDA as an information technology regulator has a duty to ensure all regulatory efforts are infused with requisite technological support. We will have pitch sessions and our selected panel of experts will provide guidance on how to improve on the solutions provided,” he said.
He added that there will be Privacy and Public Health Management – Lessons from COVID-19, where a webinar is crafted to discuss the privacy issues arising from COVID-19 induced processes such as contact tracing, temperature capturing and vaccine trials. The webinar is expected to dissect the issues and proffer solutions for the consideration of the government and other stakeholders.
Wednesday 27th January 2021, will have National Virtual Class on Data Protection (for Secondary Schools). Mal. Inuwa said NITDA places so much value on the young Nigerians. Thus, it always crafts the privacy week with youths and students in mind.
“This year, we are organizing a virtual class to teach secondary school students on data protection. This class will offer them requisite knowledge on the basics of data protection and privacy and help them learn how to protect their data online,” he stated.
There will also be a webinar designed to discuss the issues around the issuance of the National Identity Number (NIN) and its implications on privacy and the digital economy. The panelists are expected to draw out lessons learned and what we as a nation can do better to achieve our objectives.
Thursday 28th January 2021 is the Global Privacy Day and will be the grand finale of the week’s activities, where the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Dr. Isa Pantami would be the Chief Host and Special Guest of Honour to give a keynote address on the government’s vision on data protection and the digital economy. Goodwill messages would also be taken from within and outside Nigeria.
The National Quiz Competition final would also hold and the students will be assessed on data protection, digital economy, information technology and general knowledge. “We are hoping to showcase Africa’s next data privacy champions,” he said.
Thursday will also see an Executive Roundtable with the theme: Big Tech and Privacy: Evolving an African Data Strategy. This session would comprise of representatives of Africa’s big tech, the African Union, international law firm and the government. This top level session would help Africa begin a process of decolonialising technology and help us achieve some level of control over our data.