Software testing centre goes into operation soon – NITDA

Africa’s premium software testing centre will soon go into operation, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Mr. Peter Jack, has said.

Jack, who said this at a parley with journalists in Abuja, also added that the essence of the centre promoted by NITDA was to ensure that all software developed in Nigeria were of international standard.

The NITDA boss said work at the centre located in Lagos had reached advanced stages and would be ready for inauguration and operation soon.

He said, “We are already developing a software testing centre in Lagos and within the shortest possible time, the centre will become operational.

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“The whole essence of the centre is that any software developed in Nigeria will be taken to that centre to see the compatibility between the software and our systems. If it runs perfectly, we are going to pass it and then recommend it as approved software for use.

“We have so many incubation centres in the country and these are centres that develop software before testing. We are also trying to adopt the local content guidelines to ensure that Nigerians consume more of local products than foreign ones.

‘‘What we are trying to do under the local content guideline is to encourage our local entrepreneurs so that there is going to be competition between them and their foreign counterparts and make them globally competitive.”

Jack also disclosed that NITDA was working out modalities for the implementation of the directive given to ministries, departments and agencies by the Federal Government to patronise local IT firms and products.

On this, he said, “We are trying to develop standards so that these standards will apply to all IT products in the country. If any product does not meet such specifications, it will not be allowed by NITDA to be used in Nigeria.

“That is the essence of the sensitisation. What that means is that, once they are able to meet the guidelines, they will be consumed in Nigeria.”

Speaking at the event, the Acting Head of Standards and Regulation, NITDA, Mr. Lazarus Ikoti, said NITDA had perfected plans to take the campaign for IT awareness and participation to primary schools across the country.

According to him, NITDA will help primary schools to keep their records in digital formats as well as create a laboratory where students can appreciate computer training at the basic level.

Ikoti said, “We have seen the problems that go with manual keeping of documents. Sometimes, the records are missing or lost. We don’t want that to continue.

“We want to achieve two things. There should be appreciation of computer at the first level of education. Storage of data relating to children should also be safe. It is a standard we are trying to develop and we hope it will make a difference.”

He added that the focus of the standard would be to ensure that whoever was going to run any primary school in the country would begin to store all the school information and data in electronic format.