The National Information Technology Development Agency has raised concerns over the high rate of failed IT projects in the country.
NITDA disclosed that 56 per cent of such projects failed to deliver on their objectives due to poor design, lack of interoperability, and weak oversight structures.
The alarm was raised in a statement issued on Monday, by the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, following visits to key accountability offices, including the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Office of the Auditor General for the Federation, and the Bureau of Public Procurement, as part of its campaign to enforce compliance with its newly reviewed IT Project Clearance Guidelines.
Inuwa said, “56 per cent of IT projects failed to deliver on what was promised because we go for the latest technology, and failure to design before building the technology and lack of consideration for the business value proposition we are trying to deliver with the projects.”
He noted that the revised guidelines were designed to address these shortcomings by ensuring that IT projects undertaken by Ministries, Departments and Agencies are properly designed, implemented, and subjected to quality assurance.
Inuwa explained, “We are building a digitised government service and the government is one. We need to work together, work harmoniously, the same way the IT system works to deliver these services. For us to achieve this, we need to be more intentional in the way we design and implement.”
He warned that as long as MDAs continue to design and implement IT solutions in silos, systems will continue to fail.
He noted that the revised guidelines were designed to address these shortcomings by ensuring that IT projects undertaken by Ministries, Departments and Agencies are properly designed, implemented, and subjected to quality assurance.
Inuwa explained, “We are building a digitised government service and the government is one. We need to work together, work harmoniously, the same way the IT system works to deliver these services. For us to achieve this, we need to be more intentional in the way we design and implement.”
He warned that as long as MDAs continue to design and implement IT solutions in silos, systems will continue to fail.
“If we continue to design and implement in silos, they will never work together,” he said in the statement.
The new guideline, according to NITDA, outlines three key phases of IT project implementation: Solution Design, Implementation and Quality Assurance.
Going forward, contractors are expected to have certified personnel across these phases before they can be awarded government IT projects.
“These measures are designed to eliminate corruption, prevent duplication, and ensure that government IT initiatives are structured to create meaningful change, fostering efficiency, equity, and fairness in public service,” the NITDA boss added.
