The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has announced its plan to fully digitalise its operations to ensure speedy service delivery and further enable it attain global relevance.
Its Director-General, Mallam Farouk Salim, made this known during the 2023 strategic leadership retreat of SON, yesterday in Uyo.
The four-day retreat is with the theme: Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Through Digitalisation.
Salim claimed that the organization has been working to digitalize its processes and procedures over time in order to help SON achieve international recognition.
The majority of the organization’s activities, according to him, had been digitalized, and its programs were automated and accessible online.
“Digitalisation is a key driver of standardisation and economic growth in both developed and developing countries across the world.”
“I have set up a modernisation committee comprising representatives of relevant departments which I chair to drive our ICT roadmap.
“We are in the process of engaging the services of Webb Fountain, an ICT Consultant to critically review our infrastructure to address them based on the recommendation of the committee.”
The DG, however, stated that the retreat was to build synergy amongst management staff, developing a roadmap to address the challenges of digitalising the entire organisation, among others.
Also, the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi, commended SON for making the right move to digitalise the organisation to cut clumsiness during operations.
Abdullahi represented by Dr. Aristotle Onumo, Acting Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy, NITDA lamented that some of the drawbacks of digitalization included resistance to change to digital ways and insufficient critical infrastructure, such as high-speed internet broadband.
He expressed confidence that when the nation completely implements digital transformation, the change will unexpectedly boost the global economy by US$ 100 trillion by 2025.
