IT Professionalism: Past, Present, Future & TETFund Impact

1. Professionalism in Information Technology: Past, Present and Future. The Impact of IT on TETFund Operations from the past to the present and then the Future by Joseph Odo

2. Introduction • Professionalism means being responsible for decisions and actions taken in the course of a given career operations. It does not just mean doing jobs and receiving payments but also to accept responsibility for the outcome of the job done. In the complex Information Technology (IT) profession, one can only take responsibility for things within his control and not those beyond his control (Adams & McCrindle, 2008).

3. IT professionalism ensures quality in IT deliverables. Quality delivery of IT goods and services is only attained through the application of professionalism in all the production stages/processes. In other word, the product can only be good if the right process of producing the product is followed. In an IT professionalism community, professional processes of procuring IT goods and services are not only clearly defined and established but also that it is religiously enforced in all facets of the IT sectors/domains in the target community.

4. TETFund • Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) which was established as an Intervention Agency is charged with the responsibility for managing, disbursing and monitoring the education tax to Public Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria. TETFund in carrying out its mandate to the Beneficiary Institutions has ensured that best practices are adhered to as it relates to the IT Industry.

5. The ICT Department of TETFund 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 HISTORY OF TETFUND ICT DEPARTMENT The Information and Communication Technology Department (ICT) was fully functional as a Department from February, 2012. 1.2 MISSION OF THE DEPARTMENT To provide ICT advice, support, policy guidance and assistance to the Fund/stakeholders/beneficiaries. 1.3 GOAL OF DEPARTMENT OF ICT To provide support services to the Fund, Stakeholders and Benefiting Institutions and to leverage on superior ICT-related Solutions, Equipment & Facilities and Services to improve Management effectiveness and achievement of strategic intervention objectives of the Fund.

6. 1.4 FUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT • To deliver prompt and timely ICT solutions and support/maintenance of ICT infrastructure in the Fund through the following; • Provision of ICT based decision support system for decision making; • Leverage ICT Strategies and Innovations to achieve the Fund’s business strategies and goals; • Implement Information Technology Policy of the Fund; • Provide advice on aspects of ICT investment in hardware and software to the Fund; • Monitor the SLAs (Service Level Agreements) of ICT service providers to ensure compliance with stipulated standards; • Support and empower the Fund, Stakeholders and Beneficiaries through; • Implementation and administration of ICT tools for effective collaboration • Implementation and administration of ICT tools for effective data access and security

7. FUNCTIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT CONT’D c. Effective and innovative use of the future technologies, ensuring the application of IoT (Internet of Things) and Big Data technologies, • Training of TETFund staff on ICT with a view to, • Increase individual effectiveness. • Increase operational efficiency. • Plan, design and integrate technology enabled learning programmes to the Fund, Stakeholders and Beneficiaries; • Maintain the Fund’s ICT Infrastructure, including Servers, Laptops/Desktops, Data Communication Networks, Software and ICT based security systems; • Updating and maintenance of TETFund Website; • Conducting project management and quality assurance activities for Beneficiary Institutions ICT projects and; • Vetting and monitoring of ICT based interventions for Beneficiaries.

8. 1.5 DIVISIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT The Department has Three (3) Divisions namely: • Internal Operations & Systems Support; • Central Management Information System & ICT Advisory; and • Beneficiary Intervention Projects. 1.6 TEAM STRUCTURE • The Internal Team Structure derived from the three divisions for a more efficient and effective operations are as follows: • Network Management & Support • Software Design, Development & Implementation + Website • User Support • Server Management & Support • Beneficiary Intervention Project vetting & supervision (ICT components)

9. PAST: • In the past, TETFund has ensured that for any Beneficiary Institutions submitting its proposals as it relates to Information Technology related projects, the IT components in such proposals are vetted thoroughly and for submission requesting for procurement of computers, only branded desktops and laptops are approved for the Beneficiary Institutions. For submissions on networking, these are also vetted thoroughly to ensure that the Beneficiary Institutions adheres to industry best practices.

10. PRESENT: • Presently in ensuring that TETFund delivers its mandate to the Beneficiary Institutions, the current Executive Secretary, Dr. Abdullahi Bichi Baffa during the beginning of his administration introduced another Intervention called ICT Support Intervention. This Intervention is meant to ensure that all Beneficiary Institutions have web presence in which the Beneficiary Institutions can showcase their information for public consumption. • TETFund also intervenes in Library Development which is gradually moving from the physical library to e-Library. Presently, quite a number of the BIs are procuring e-library resources and journals ranging from e-granary, EBSCO, SCIENCE DIRECT etc. These procurements are being been vetted professionally using internally developed templates to ensure value for money and quality. • In addition to this, the Executive Secretary has mandated that Software Development should be internalised in the Fund. Presently, some staff in the ICT Department are working on the automation of the operations of most of the Departments in the Fund. This is to ensure that the Fund operates in a paperless environment.

11. FUTURE: • TETFund in its ICT road map intends to have a platform whereby Beneficiary Institutions can make submissions of their proposals online and equally track their submissions. This will improve the ease of doing business between TETFund and the Beneficiary Institutions greatly.

12. Thank You