Nigeria Computer Society NCS 2013 Conference Communique

COMMUNIQUE OF THE 11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND 46TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) OF THE NIGERIA COMPUTER SOCIETY (NCS), HELD AT THE ROYAL PARK HOTEL, ILOKO-IJESA, THE STATE OF OSUN, NIGERIA FROM 24-26TH JULY, 2013.

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1.0 Introduction
The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) was established in 1978 as the umbrella body for all Information Technology practitioners in Nigeria. The Society held her 11th International Conference and 46th AGM from 24-26th July, 2013 at the Royal Park Hotel, Iloko, the State Of Osun, Nigeria.

The 2013 conference theme is e-Government and National Security. There were 5 plenary sessions with speakers from broad spectrum of the society: IT professionals, academia, government and non-government agencies, industry and business. Also there were parallel sessions to complement the plenary sessions. The topics of discussion were as diverse and encompassing as the speakers spanning E-government and National Security; Economic Security, Political Security and National Database; Public Key Infrastructure, Governance through e-Government, Smart Government and Social Security.

2.0 Attendance
The Conference had in attendance the Vice President of Nigeria, Architect Namadi Sambo ably represented by the Honorable Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson and the Executive Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola. Also in attendance were the Executive Governor of Ekiti State, His Excellency, Dr. Kayode Fayemi represented by his Special Adviser on ICT, Mr. Kayode Jegede; the Deputy Governor of the State of Osun, Her Excellency, Otunba (Mrs.) Titi Laoye-Tomori; Dr. A.S. Daura, Acting Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Vice Chancellor, Osun State University, Prof. B.A. Okesina and Alhaja Sekinat Yusuf, former Commissioner of Women Affairs, Youth and Social Development in Lagos State and current President, Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria (CPN).

Furthermore, there were more than 700 attendees from within and outside Nigeria. In addition, 336 new members and 12 corporate members were inducted.

3.0 Decisions
After the paper presentations, technical sessions, contributions of the participants and exhaustive deliberations, the following decisions were reached:

i. That e-Government when properly deployed is able to deliver continuous optimization of service delivery to the citizens thereby engendering the attainment of the Vision 20-20:20 of the Federal Government;

ii. That in deploying e-Government services, it is imperative to embrace the cooperative model of governance which brings together the government, the governed, the civil society, professional bodies and other relevant stakeholders;

iii. That to build an efficient and credible e-Government cyber infrastructure, there is the urgent need to commence development of our national cyber security capability, otherwise we will be at a grave disadvantage against other nation states;

iv. That government at all levels should accelerate the development of enabling legal framework and environment which create legal status for electronic records, encompasses cybercrime legislation and enforces checks and balances;

v. The Conference deplored the low level of IT security awareness in the country and urged the government to work with NCS and relevant agencies of government to mount security awareness programs and campaigns for citizens as a way of curtailing security breach and reducing cyber crime;

vi. The deployment of IT to enhance national security seems to be limited to the enhancement of Cybersecurity/IT security, and

vii. The Conference commends the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology and the Honorable Minister for the giant strides being made through various progressive initiatives by the Ministry (which are in line with the transformation agenda of Mr. President) such as the National Broadband Initiative, denomination of Federal Government websites and e-mails in .ng domain, and involvement of NCS members to drive some of these initiatives; the Conference further advocates for continuous engagement between the Ministry and NCS.