By: Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has indicated that the Government is working to provide the correct environment for proper Internet usage and urged the internet community support the Government to achieve it to inure to the benefit of all and especially our consumers.
Delivering the keynote speech at the 2023 Ghana Internet Governance Forum (Ghana IGF2023) under the theme: “Building a Secure and Sustainable Digital Future” in Accra, the Sector Minister stressed that fact that, “the Ministry is working to bridge the digital divide and promote digital inclusion through Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC)”.
According to her, the focus of their work is to extend communication services to underserved and unserved areas, particularly in rural and remote regions of the country ,“through its initiatives, such as the provision of community information centres, digital inclusion programs, and capacity building efforts, GIFEC aims to empower citizens with digital skills and bridge the digital divide. By ensuring that all Ghanaians have access to affordable and reliable Internet services, GIFEC contributes to building an inclusive and sustainable digital future”.
She said, the Ministry has implemented the national roaming policy geared toward provision of continuous connectivity irrespective of network provider and all these interventions as she mentioned are aimed at enabling the underserved communities in Ghana to be connected as a way of bridging the digital divide to the marginalized community.
“To improve the design and development of world-class ICTs, the government established the Advanced Information Technology Institute – Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence (AITI-KACE), to coordinate and oversee ICT and E-Governance systems that produce globally competitive research and innovation, human and institutional capacity building, and consultancy through quality-oriented and demand-driven products and services for accelerated national development”, she submitted.
Ghana, as an ITU member, joined the global information society movement by holding its first local IGF in 2006, which was followed by others in 2011, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
And it is for this reason the Minister said, the implementation of the Government’s digital agenda requires collaborative engagement with stakeholders including Civil society, Businesses, Internet Service providers, Academia, and the general public.
This she maintained will provide the platform to provide guidance on ensuring that systems are standardized and regulated to withstand attacks and “the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), the ICT arm of Government is mandated to provide an environment for the effective use of ICT by all sectors by implementing sound policies and regulatory frameworks”.
Ghana Internet Governance Forum 2023 organized by Ghana Domain Name Registry (GDNR) focuses on themes and policy discussions that will help shape Ghana’s Internet ecosystem to grow and thrive and to also prepare the country to participate in the 18th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum that will be hosted by the Government of Japan in Kyoto from 8 to 12 October 2023. The Forum’s overarching theme is: “The Internet We Want – Empowering All People”.
Internet governance is the complementary development and application by governments, the private sector, civil society and the technical community, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and activities that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.
Rev. Dr. Nana Yaa Owusu-Prempeh, chairperson for Tin-Ifa Group and Ghana Domain Name Registry (GDNR), expressed worry of the cost of data in Ghana and called for the protection of data consumers.