Accra, Nov. 28, - Professor
Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and
Innovations, says the government would continue to provide the enabling
atmosphere that can help nurture the innovative dreams of young people to propel
the growth of the country.
“I believe that we have to work
hard because the young people of this nation have dreams they can no longer
afford to postpone. We know you have dreams and we are going to make sure you
don’t postpone your dreams. Otherwise we will be in trouble”, the Minister gave
the assurance to the young people of the nation.
Prof Frimpong-Boateng said this
on Tuesday, when two Ghanaian innovations, designed by two youth groups that
emerged as winners on the list of the 2017 Global Top 40 World Summit Award
(WSA), were out-doored at a press conference in Accra.
The two winning innovations,
“Agrocenta” and “Qisimah,” made Ghana, the only African country with two
winners on the list of 40 global winners in 2017.
Agrocenta, currently being
deployed in the three northern regions, uses the latest digital technologies to
support farmers in smart environmental practices, efficient access to markets
and increasing farm profitability.
Qisimah, is a software tool that
provides artists with a way of tracking which stations were playing their music
and where it was being heard, and in that way, supports both better marketing
as well as ensuring that all forms of copyright were respected.
The 2017 WSA winners would
present their innovations and receive their awards at the WSA Global Congress
in Vienna, Austria in March 2018, before an audience of high-level UN and
Government representatives, businesses and innovators.
While commending the brains
behind the two award winning innovations, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said he was
very proud of them, and the many other young people doing many wonderful things
in and around the country.
“This is a sterling achievement,
Qisimah and Agrocenta. All nations on earth took part in the award and you won
two of these awards”, he noted.
He said ICT had made it possible
for everybody to explore and come out with innovations that would help improve
the lives of people, saying “on the computer screen, all nations are equal. It
is very important for young people to know this”.
He said such innovations create
jobs and touch the lives of people including farmers. “Pretty soon we will
begin to see the effects of such innovations on our GDP. We will begin to see
the effect on our job creations and above all, on wealth creation.
“Because that is sustainable
development for me. When you are creating wealth and you are reducing
unemployment and we are happy as a people, and our young people are happy then
we can stand chest out and be proud of the nation, you are not playing second
fiddle to any nation”, Prof Frimpong-Boateng said.
He said since research drives
innovations, the government had charged the sector Ministry to put in place
certain measures to propel such technologies.
He said President Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo had charged the Ministry to prepare a national Science,
Technology and Innovation Policy, which had been completed now and awaiting to
go through cabinet and Parliament approval so that it could guide the nation.
He said MESTI had also been
charged to set up a Science, Technology and Innovation fund, while the
President had promised to pay one per cent of GDP into that fund, which would
be made available to all Ghanaian researchers, both private and public
universities and research groups and innovators.
Mr Francis Obirikorang, Chief
Executive Officer of Agrocenta, who made a presentation of the innovation said
Agrocenta was an innovative online platform that empowers small holder farmers
and farmer based organisations in rural farming communities to access a wider
online market outside their immediate locality to trade fairly and equitably.
Farmers are also able to access
market information that would aid them in pricing their produce fairly and
access on-demand truck services just at the click of a button, real-time.
Mr Solomon Appier-Sign,
Co-founder of Qisimah, said their innovation would help the music industry to
make better decisions by understanding how their music was performing on the
airwaves across the globe.
The WSA is a global initiative
within the framework of the United Nations World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS). It is also the only ICT event worldwide, that reaches the
mobile community in over 180 countries.
GNA
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