By Charlotte Yayra ADZANU & Ebenezer SABUTEY
Minister of communications, Haruna Iddrisu said his ministry on behalf of the government is welcoming technical advice in the fight of online fraud from every ICT firm in the country to make sure that our critical infrastructures, whose failure or damage would lead to sustainable supply bottlenecks, considerable disturbance of public security or other dramatic consequences.
The minister has assured The Information Technology of Ghana (ITAG) that his ministry will welcome technical advice and expertise collaborating with Public and Private Sectors to establish Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTS) and Law Enforcement in addressing the issue of cyber crime and glitches.
It would be recalled that early this month, BusinessWeek published a report by a US based “iovation” indicating that Ghana topped the list of online fraud transactions worldwide.
The report said, the transactions are said to be in online financial services, retail and gaming among others after the US based released its key findings on online fraud for the year 2011.
Ghana was first on the top five countries globally followed by Nigeria, the Philippians, China and Israel.
In a speech delivered by the minister at the inaugural meeting of ITAG, recently in Accra, to indicate Ghana’s readiness in bridging the digital divide and fighting the menace, he noted that many countries and terrorist groups are perpetrating cybercrimes and launching cyber war as an alternative or an essential sign to traditional warfare. “Most Governments have significant cyber capabilities and are ready to deploy these capabilities in pursuit of national goals” he said.
The minister believed that ,the last year’s visit to Ghana of Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the internet, and his interaction of ICT practitioners clearly exposed the need for ITAG and also emphasised government’s support for the emergence of ITAG and the present pace of ICT infrastructure in the country and deployment of ICTs in education, health, commerce ,governance , agriculture ,etc .
According to Iddrisu, very often, IT professionals have been accused of not undertaking their duties with values enshrined in the professional etiquettes.
He therefore urged all ICT professionals to discharge their duties with respect, fairness and honesty. “You must also employ international best practise in your solution and developments and also comply with rules, regulations and laws of your employers and the nation” the minister stated.
Haruna said government has identified ICT as a key pillar and enabler for the country’s socio-economic transformation and development which the Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) policy has been developed along with the passage of relevant enabling ICT laws to provide an enabling environment for the promotion of ICT as the catalyst for the nation’s development.
In the area of Public Service, the minister said government is training a critical mass of Information Technology Management (IT/IM) personnel for deployment of the “Ghana Public Services IT/IM Scheme of Service” to guide and regulate the recruitment of IT/IM personnel into the Ghana Public Service. Expressing his gratitude as ITAG aims to be the voice of Computer Science, IT and Engineering Science professionals in Ghana
He stated also that, in the midst of the ICT transformation, government has shown interest in seeing the emergence of professional association in the ICT industry for consultation on technical matters and advice.
“Mr. Chairman, as I always point say, government and business today all rely on corporate IT networks and their connections with the global internet as the backbone of government programs, education, energy and financial systems” he said.
The minister concluded that his ministry will shortly provide outline of Ghana’s cyber security strategy including the restructuring of the management of Ghana Domain namespace.
Minister of communications, Haruna Iddrisu said his ministry on behalf of the government is welcoming technical advice in the fight of online fraud from every ICT firm in the country to make sure that our critical infrastructures, whose failure or damage would lead to sustainable supply bottlenecks, considerable disturbance of public security or other dramatic consequences.
The minister has assured The Information Technology of Ghana (ITAG) that his ministry will welcome technical advice and expertise collaborating with Public and Private Sectors to establish Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTS) and Law Enforcement in addressing the issue of cyber crime and glitches.
It would be recalled that early this month, BusinessWeek published a report by a US based “iovation” indicating that Ghana topped the list of online fraud transactions worldwide.
The report said, the transactions are said to be in online financial services, retail and gaming among others after the US based released its key findings on online fraud for the year 2011.
Ghana was first on the top five countries globally followed by Nigeria, the Philippians, China and Israel.
In a speech delivered by the minister at the inaugural meeting of ITAG, recently in Accra, to indicate Ghana’s readiness in bridging the digital divide and fighting the menace, he noted that many countries and terrorist groups are perpetrating cybercrimes and launching cyber war as an alternative or an essential sign to traditional warfare. “Most Governments have significant cyber capabilities and are ready to deploy these capabilities in pursuit of national goals” he said.
The minister believed that ,the last year’s visit to Ghana of Tim Berners-Lee, the father of the internet, and his interaction of ICT practitioners clearly exposed the need for ITAG and also emphasised government’s support for the emergence of ITAG and the present pace of ICT infrastructure in the country and deployment of ICTs in education, health, commerce ,governance , agriculture ,etc .
According to Iddrisu, very often, IT professionals have been accused of not undertaking their duties with values enshrined in the professional etiquettes.
He therefore urged all ICT professionals to discharge their duties with respect, fairness and honesty. “You must also employ international best practise in your solution and developments and also comply with rules, regulations and laws of your employers and the nation” the minister stated.
Haruna said government has identified ICT as a key pillar and enabler for the country’s socio-economic transformation and development which the Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) policy has been developed along with the passage of relevant enabling ICT laws to provide an enabling environment for the promotion of ICT as the catalyst for the nation’s development.
In the area of Public Service, the minister said government is training a critical mass of Information Technology Management (IT/IM) personnel for deployment of the “Ghana Public Services IT/IM Scheme of Service” to guide and regulate the recruitment of IT/IM personnel into the Ghana Public Service. Expressing his gratitude as ITAG aims to be the voice of Computer Science, IT and Engineering Science professionals in Ghana
He stated also that, in the midst of the ICT transformation, government has shown interest in seeing the emergence of professional association in the ICT industry for consultation on technical matters and advice.
“Mr. Chairman, as I always point say, government and business today all rely on corporate IT networks and their connections with the global internet as the backbone of government programs, education, energy and financial systems” he said.
The minister concluded that his ministry will shortly provide outline of Ghana’s cyber security strategy including the restructuring of the management of Ghana Domain namespace.
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