Digital Inclusion includes the use of information and access to communication technologies. This also includes training for the digital literacy skills required for effective use of information and communication technologies.
The need for inclusion cannot be overemphasized,if there’s no digital inclusion theres’s a chance that many individuals and communities will be overlooked and excluded. These population will not only be missing out on the potential benefits of ICT but will also not be engaged in decisions related to digital initiatives within communities.
The concept of Digital Readiness cannot be effectively discussed without including digital rights and inclusion. Digital rights allows one to use, create and publish digital media while digital inclusion ensures that individuals and disadvantaged groups have access to ICT and are able to participate and benefit from today’s growing knowledge and information society.
Now, in some countries, to enjoy these benefits, one must have a unique identifier which is the national identity number(NIN) , fostered by the national identity management system. In Nigeria, the NIN would curb the issues of census, election malpractices , crime as well as money-laundering but currently, only about 38 out of 190 million Nigerians have been successfully enrolled, registered and identified.
At the interactive stakeholders’ session hosted by Paradigm Initiative in partnership with the Roothub and Policy Alert, the statutory organisation in charge of enrolment and registration, NIMC was on board to discuss the importance of the NIN, the regulatory factors and challenges surrounding the process and the projections for the ecosystem.
The discussion centered around digital identity and the issues affecting digital identity and security,the way forward,plan and possible solutions.
We realize it’s time to start having these conversations as digital identity is like an individual’s currency on the web and it’s important that we as a business and technology community begin to understand how having an identification number helps curb a lot of social vices.
Walk into the nearest NIMC office today and get enrolled. Your NIN is your identity!
