The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mr Kashifu Inuwa says that the Agency will support HELPIO, an android based application used in reporting sexual abuse under Nigeria’s stipulated regulation.
He made this known when the founder of Shamrock Innovation Hub that developed the application, Miss Sa’a dat Aliyu paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.
The Director-General said the support came as a directive from the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami to liaise with the young startup, mentor her and monitor her progress.
He commended Shamrock Innovation Hub for the laudable development in creating sensitization and awareness to sexually abused victims with the aim of supporting them and eliminating any form of stigmatization while at the same time, bringing perpetrators of the heinous crime to justice.
Mr Inuwa also assured victims of sexual abuse that they can leverage Information Communications and Technology as an opportunity to present their cases without fear of stigmatization.
He advised the hub to evaluate their internal infrastructure size so that the Agency can examine possible areas of assistance, connecting the hub with a vast service provider for seamless integration and promised to provide solar panels to ease their operations.
On the issues of creating awareness in rural areas, the DG said that the Hub’s sexual abuse reporting application will be given adequate publicity on the Agency’s social media handles and the NITDA Impact weekly television programme, adding that the Agency will come up a with start-up innovation challenge to get the development of the application on iOS devices.
During the Hub’s presentation, Inuwa noted that a large amount of personal information will be collected in the investigation of sexual abuse cases and therefore advised that it was necessary for the Hub to align with the standards of the Nigerian Data Protection Regulations.
He said that the Agency will link the Hub with a Data Protection Compliance Organization to ensure compliance with the regulations.
The founder of Shamrock Innovation Hub, Miss Sa’adat Aliyu, who had earlier sought support from the Agency expressed delight and appreciation at the Agency’s assurances of support and cooperation.
She said the HELPIO is a mobile application that provides a safe space for victims of sexual abuse and with the collaboration of relevant organizations like NITDA and other security agencies, the Hub will achieve its mandate of ensuring victims get absolute justice.
She sought support from NITDA for the provision of tools and resources which will help in the Hub’s training programmes and promised to give details of solar panels needed to enable the Hub get its maximum productivity.
PIAK
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