By Emmanuel Obisue
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, has announced that all operational processes of the Federal Civil Service across Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs, has been fully digitalized.
She made this disclosure on Thursday at the State House, Abuja, at a Public Lecture to mark the 2023 Civil Service Week, themed: ‘Digitalization of Work Processes in the Public Service: A gateway to Efficient Resource Utilization and National Development’.
She noted that civil servants have largely embraced the use of technology, bearing in mind that both tasks performed in the present and future will depend on the use of technology.
Yemi-Esan added that henceforth, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation would begin to handle personal and policy files scanned and stored in digital format, including having workflow processes transacted within the office digitally.
While commending a few MDAs for cueing into the digitalization agenda, she expressed optimism that others would, in no time, begin the digitalization processes as part of moves to fall in line with the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021 – 2025, FCSSIP25.
“In view of the present paradigm, it is clear that both the present and future of the Public Service lies in digitalisation, as a veritable tool for its effective functioning, and the delivery of prompt, Citizen-centric and cost-effective public services.
“All official correspondence in form of memos, internal and external circulars, are processed electronically through the ECM Solution and this is one of the great milestones being celebrated today. From the Service-wide perspective, all MDAs are running with the digitalisation programme and are at different stages of implementation; with a mandate for all to achieve full migration by the end of 2025.
“It is pleasing to note, some MDAs have also deployed some ECM solutions for their workflows. According to an ECM Composite Readiness Survey conducted in May this year, the Ministry of Transport has deployed the solution, while a number of other Ministries are on the verge of deploying the ECM having crossed the 80 percent threshold,” she said.
A Pofessor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and Economics Department, Professor Stefan Dercon, the Guest Speaker who delivered the Public Lecture, called on civil servants to express motivation in ensuring that the digital transformation is appropriately driven.
While noting that the existence of a proper framework forms part of the challenges of transition into digitalization in Nigeria, he noted that with the initiative, interaction in the system and with citizens, data creation, and management systems would significantly improve.
He further stressed on the need to substitute analogue processes for digital solutions.
