Emma Okonji
The Institute of Information Management (IIM) has announced plans to host a national summit on information management with the theme: ‘Information Management For Change: Roles And Responsibilities Of Key Stakeholders.’
The Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu and the Minister for Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, are among the dignitaries expected at the summit.
President/Chairman Governing Council, IIM, Africa, Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, explained that given the present economic realities, the summit on information management has become a national emergency following the duplicity of data in various government agencies, which in itself is costly and difficult to manage.
This, he said, has also negatively impacted on government decisions in moving the Nation forward, as lack of centralised, timely, quality and adequate information has impeded on the economic growth.
“In this era of change, we must recognise that governments alone cannot improve the situation in the country. To achieve our collective goals as a Nation, we need to bring key stakeholders together across the country, from the private sector, to civil society, to government. If we do not work together, the situation just won’t change. Various stakeholders need to understand their roles and responsibilities on how we can harness information to better help improve the economy,” Oyewole said.
“It is essential to identify the individuals and groups in the society who will contribute to the development of the system, identify those that it will affect from its introduction, and then develop a strategy for dealing with them, which is why a summit of this nature is essential at this very point in time,” he added.
Oyewole described information management as complex and seems overwhelming but as nation, the country need to understand its essence in this day and age for a countless of reasons. He said that there are so many tasks, information sources, questions, critical connections and processes involved.
“There are so many agencies and stakeholders who often use their own systems to store, capture and share important data. There are so many priorities and evolutions. There are disconnects between the back end and front office. And, last but not the least, there is just so much information and data, ever more unstructured data, big data, small data, fast data, data everywhere which keeps growing at an astonishing pace without any plan in place for proper management and security,” Oyewole said.
According to him, “For a country like Nigeria that is trying to diversify the economy, we need to figure out how information management can help solve pressing challenges, make the economy run smoother, and address the needs of citizens.”
With the theme ‘Information Management for Change: Roles And Responsibilities Of Key Stakeholders’, the summit is expected to feature the induction and investiture of new members into various membership grades in the Institute. Among those to be honoured at the summit include past and present public office holders, professionals,captains of industries including leaders across the various sectors of the economy.
