Ursula Owusu-Ekuful
The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has called for Ghana to evolve quickly in response to the transformation being shaped by the internet and mobile technology.
According to her, since data has become the ‘new oil’, the nation must integrate its systems to derive maximum benefits from “machine learning, block chain, internet of things, big data analytics and other novel technologies.”
“Several attempts have been made to digitise key government services through the e-Transform project, in partnership with the World Bank. The eGov project of e-Transform led to the digitisation of the then Internal Revenue Service, Registrar General’s Department, and the establishment of the Ghana Electronic Payment Platform (“GEPP”) among others,” she said.
Speaking at the launch of the Ghana.GOV, the centralised public sector digital payment platform, Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said since the NPP Government took office, it has been implementing the President’s vision of a massive transformation of Ghana through technology.
She said “we are vigorously pursuing the Digital Ghana Agenda systematically,” adding “we are using technology to formalise our economy for growth and sustainable livelihoods, to modernise government processes and service delivery, drive innovation, entrepreneurship, create jobs, and transform businesses.”
The minister indicated that the key pillars underpinning the government’s digitalisation include broadband and last mile infrastructure, digital financial services, digital entrepreneurship (i-hubs, economic activity and new jobs), digital platforms (e-id, address systems, common platform, data sharing, cyber security) and digital skills.
“With the passage of time, the sustainability of these initiatives became a challenge as the long term operational and maintenance costs were not factored into project design and the usage of proprietary software, meant the government could not access and utilise our own data generated by the projects,” she said.
She revealed that the government had begun the procurement process for upgrading the GEPP, and that when the ministry was introduced to what has now become Ghana.GOV and decided to trust our local Fintech consortium against stiff opposition, both internal and external. We have come a long way in two years!”
“Over the past four plus years, under the leadership of H.E. President Akufo-Addo, the Government has also focused on providing the key infrastructure to support the rapid digitisation of the country through projects such as the National Identification Card, the Ghana Post GPS Digital Address System, mobile money interoperability and the GhIPSS payments platform.”
“These key pieces of infrastructure allow the government to establish where and how a government service is to be provided and convenient payment options for it. This is the core infrastructure that has made Ghana.GOV possible today,” the Minister pointed out.
According to her, the ministry is also in the process of implementing a rural connectivity project to link the unserved and underserved areas of the country within the next two years, and some four million people are expected to be connected to voice and data telephony services in the remotest parts of the country.
By Ernest Kofi Adu