By Jeorge Wilson KINGSON
An inter-ministerial implementation committee on the national Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) project has been inaugurated in Accra.
The committee will oversee the implementation of the newly instituted project, which is expected to commence fully in March this year.
The project, launched last week, is being facilitated by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), with the support and collaboration of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Communications (MoC), and funding from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). The cost of the initial pilot project is pegged at GH¢1 million.
The project involves the distribution of about 3,000 locally assembled notebook computers or mini laptops to individuals, households and organizations. The target is to ensure that ultimately all Ghanaians are able to access at least one computer. The computers were assembled in Ghana by a local firm, rLG Communications.
Christened “The Better Ghana ICT Project,” it is the government’s attempt at ensuring that more Ghanaians inculcate ICT into their daily lives so as to meet the demands of modern age.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Sherry Ayittey, remarked that, “This initiative will boost local content participation in the ICT sector and in the long run save huge sums of foreign currency used for importation of computers. Indeed this initiative is another manifesto pledge fulfilled in this action year.”
According to her, one of the primary features of this new phase is the priority that government is giving to policy development.
“This is why the newly developed Ghana Science, Technology and Innovation Policy outlines strategies for implementing ICT in the education sector such as facilitating the development of modern ICT infrastructure to improve teaching, learning and research. It is worth mentioning that these computers were assembled here in Ghana by rLG Communications Company,” Ayittey stated.
According to her, the project is the beginning of a marked shift from a decade of experimentation in the form of donor-supported, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) led, small-scale, pilot projects towards a new phase of systemic integration informed by national government policies and multi-stakeholder-led implementation processes.
The communication manager of rLG Communications, Millicent Atuguba, expressed excitement about her company’s association with the project.
She explained that not only were the computers put together by rLG, but they were also assembled by Ghanaians, who are trainees under the ICT module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
“We are more excited about the fact that we have been able to build such talents in Ghana who are able to assemble complicated machines, like computers and mobile phones. More of our Ghanaian youth are getting training, employment and making money for themselvesm” Atuguba stated.
The director of Science and Technology Innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Lawrence Nartey, who is also a member of the 11- member inter-ministerial committee told BusinessWeek that the idea of an inter-ministerial implementing committee is to ensure that different people with different backgrounds bring their experience to bear on the project to guarantee transparency.
“The details of the project will be worked out by the committee,” Nartey stated, while emphasizing that it is an improvement of the erstwhile one laptop per child project.
The committee is chaired by Nii Narku Quaynor. Other members include Gideon Quarcoo, Deputy Minister for Communications, Agatha Gaisie-Nkansah, Director of ICT at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Paul Asimenu, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, Dorothy Gordon, Director of the Kofi Annan Center for ICT, and Rev. Emmanuel Dadebo, who is the director of ICT at the Ministry of Education.
The rest are Stephen Baffoe, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GETFund, Johnson Adasi of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Abakah Quansah, a coordinator of the MASTEES Programme, and a representative of the Institute of Industrial Research of the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-IIR).
In modern usage, ICT also acts to integrate and enable technologies for environmental sustainability. By using new technologies, the global community can be supported in their collaboration to preserve the environment in the long term.
Unfortunately, developing countries lag far behind developed nations in computer use and internet access and usage. For example, while only one in 130 people in Africa has a computer and access to the internet, in North America and Europe one in every two people have access to the internet. Indeed, over 90% of students in Africa have never touched a computer.
ICT is therefore viewed as a perquisite for development and the process of optimum adoption and diffusion of ICT in education in Ghana is long overdue.
An inter-ministerial implementation committee on the national Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) project has been inaugurated in Accra.
The committee will oversee the implementation of the newly instituted project, which is expected to commence fully in March this year.
The project, launched last week, is being facilitated by the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology (MEST), with the support and collaboration of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Ministry of Communications (MoC), and funding from the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund). The cost of the initial pilot project is pegged at GH¢1 million.
The project involves the distribution of about 3,000 locally assembled notebook computers or mini laptops to individuals, households and organizations. The target is to ensure that ultimately all Ghanaians are able to access at least one computer. The computers were assembled in Ghana by a local firm, rLG Communications.
Christened “The Better Ghana ICT Project,” it is the government’s attempt at ensuring that more Ghanaians inculcate ICT into their daily lives so as to meet the demands of modern age.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology, Sherry Ayittey, remarked that, “This initiative will boost local content participation in the ICT sector and in the long run save huge sums of foreign currency used for importation of computers. Indeed this initiative is another manifesto pledge fulfilled in this action year.”
According to her, one of the primary features of this new phase is the priority that government is giving to policy development.
“This is why the newly developed Ghana Science, Technology and Innovation Policy outlines strategies for implementing ICT in the education sector such as facilitating the development of modern ICT infrastructure to improve teaching, learning and research. It is worth mentioning that these computers were assembled here in Ghana by rLG Communications Company,” Ayittey stated.
According to her, the project is the beginning of a marked shift from a decade of experimentation in the form of donor-supported, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) led, small-scale, pilot projects towards a new phase of systemic integration informed by national government policies and multi-stakeholder-led implementation processes.
The communication manager of rLG Communications, Millicent Atuguba, expressed excitement about her company’s association with the project.
She explained that not only were the computers put together by rLG, but they were also assembled by Ghanaians, who are trainees under the ICT module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP).
“We are more excited about the fact that we have been able to build such talents in Ghana who are able to assemble complicated machines, like computers and mobile phones. More of our Ghanaian youth are getting training, employment and making money for themselvesm” Atuguba stated.
The director of Science and Technology Innovation at the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, Lawrence Nartey, who is also a member of the 11- member inter-ministerial committee told BusinessWeek that the idea of an inter-ministerial implementing committee is to ensure that different people with different backgrounds bring their experience to bear on the project to guarantee transparency.
“The details of the project will be worked out by the committee,” Nartey stated, while emphasizing that it is an improvement of the erstwhile one laptop per child project.
The committee is chaired by Nii Narku Quaynor. Other members include Gideon Quarcoo, Deputy Minister for Communications, Agatha Gaisie-Nkansah, Director of ICT at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Paul Asimenu, Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, Dorothy Gordon, Director of the Kofi Annan Center for ICT, and Rev. Emmanuel Dadebo, who is the director of ICT at the Ministry of Education.
The rest are Stephen Baffoe, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the GETFund, Johnson Adasi of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Abakah Quansah, a coordinator of the MASTEES Programme, and a representative of the Institute of Industrial Research of the Center for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-IIR).
In modern usage, ICT also acts to integrate and enable technologies for environmental sustainability. By using new technologies, the global community can be supported in their collaboration to preserve the environment in the long term.
Unfortunately, developing countries lag far behind developed nations in computer use and internet access and usage. For example, while only one in 130 people in Africa has a computer and access to the internet, in North America and Europe one in every two people have access to the internet. Indeed, over 90% of students in Africa have never touched a computer.
ICT is therefore viewed as a perquisite for development and the process of optimum adoption and diffusion of ICT in education in Ghana is long overdue.
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