Accra, Dec. 5, - Vice President
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says government would leverage on technological innovations
as agent of growth, source of income and way of work in the public sector and
industry to promote socio-economic development.
He said opportunities abounded in
the new digital age and gave the assurance that government was ready to create
an enabling environment through pragmatic policies that would give equal
opportunities to all Ghanaians in deployment and commercialisation of
exponential technologies.
He said the use of technology had
enabled nations to leapfrog from a case of zero to abundance and, therefore, urged
the private sector to partner government in harnessing the technological
potentials to develop capabilities that would empower the nation’s economy.
Vice President Bawumia said this
at the opening of the 2017 Innovation Week of the Advanced Information
Technology Institute of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT
in Accra on Tuesday.
The four-day event is on the
theme: “Exponential Technologies and Innovation - A Key Enabler for
Socio-Economic Development,” which attracted Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) enthusiasts, researchers, entrepreneurs, teachers and
students.
The forum is designed to support
the development of ICT and electronic industry in Ghana and provide opportunity
for experts and enthusiasts to engage in conversations that would propel the
digitisation revolution of the country.
It seeks to strengthen the
linkages between academic and research institutions and industry, as well as
promoting ICT and electronics in accordance with the Government’s policy of
developing global value-added and competitive services, which would position
the nation as a regional ICT hub.
The event also provided a
platform to showcase some innovative works of young students like digital
products and solutions, mobile applications, robotics and raspberry PI.
The Vice President acknowledged
the role played by India by partnering the Government of Ghana to establish the
ICT Centre and expressed appreciation to the Indian Government for its
contributions and efforts in making the project a reality.
He said the rapid exponential
growth in technology and innovation were making positive impact on today’s
global economy and influencing business strategies, decisions and models.
Dr Bawumia said the nation had
embraced digital revolution and, thus, mentioned the launch of the National
Identification System, the implementation of the National Digital Property
Addressing System, Drivers’ Licensing and Vehicle Registration, e-registration
of businesses and paperless port project were fundamental steps for improving
the information platform to manage the economy.
He said government would embrace
public-private partnership in developing ICT infrastructure and reduce the cost
of operations.
“The Government is determined to
making Ghana an ICT economy as enshrined in the ICT for Development Policy as
part of our road map of becoming a smart nation.
“Government is promoting
electronic governance to facilitate public governance and ensure quality
service delivery,” he noted.
The Vice President said the civil
service played a crucial role in the governance of the nation, therefore, the
deployment of exponential technologies would support in that regard.
“This will improve the efficiency
of government services, reduce operational cost and bring governance closer to
the people.
“We are bringing governance to
the people through e-governance initiatives, which have brought improvement in
its day-to-day operations resulting in effectiveness and efficiency,” he
explained.
Dr Bawumia noted that global
technological advancement had redefined ‘’the way we live, play and work,’’
therefore Ghana could not afford to be left behind and would harness the
potentials of ICT to accelerate development.
“As a government, we stand to
exploit these technologies to our advantage and re-emphasise our government’s
commitment to implementing the various components inherent in the ICT for
Development Policy,” he said.
Vice President Bawumia noted that
the implementation of the Policy would ensure the realisation of the vision to
transform the nation into an information-rich knowledge-based economy through
the development, deployment and exploitation of ICT within the economy and
society.
“For instance, in Papua New
Guinea, an international NGO, Doctors without Borders, resorted to the use of
drones to carry about 10,000 laboratory samples from rural areas to
tuberculosis diagnosis station as a result of inaccessibility of roads to those
areas.
“Rwanda is at the verge of using
drones to deliver parcels and needed medical supplies to remote areas. Through
the use of exponential technologies, Google recently used its Virtual Reality
(Google Expedition) product to teach biology anatomy in grammar school in the
Czech Republic,” he said.
Vice President Bawumia said the
world was witnessing a new farming revolution triggered by the application of
new exponential technologies.
Farmers in the United States of
America, through the use of Global Positioning Systems and Geographical
Information Systems, could collect accurate data on their lands, soil and
weather conditions to properly plan before planting, he said.
The Vice President said
technology had enabled farmers in developed countries to apply the right amount
of fertilizers while they used huge harvesters to harvest in large quantities,
with yield monitoring devices being introduced to capture the actual yield of
crops in real time.
He, however, noted that the use
of technology had its associated challenges, therefore, government had set up
an Inter-ministerial Advisory Committee and National Cyber Security
Secretariat, as well as the enactment and enforcement of national cyber
security laws to strengthen the local industry and attract foreign investments.
He said it would ensure that
global standards and practices were adhered to in the deployment of those
technologies.
GNA
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