Government committed to promote ICT – Dr Mustafa

Dr Mustapha Ahmed, Deputy Minister of Environment, Science and Technology has reiterated government's commitment to promote the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

He said government in 2011, set out a-four-year Science and Technology Innovation Development Plan aimed at achieving some specific projects and its implementation.

These include establishing an ICT Park in Ghana, promoting access to computers, the internet and computing device, expanding and enhancing the capacity of ICT training facilities and promoting the productive application of ICT through activities such as e-teaching, e-commerce, e-banking and e-health and telemedicine.

Dr Ahmed was addressing students at the commemoration of “Girls in ICT DAY” in Accra.

He said some of the projects have been initiated by the government, which include Better Ghana ICT Project and e-governance programme, which provided computers to students and educational institutions, Ministries, Departments and Agencies being connected to the internet as well as biometric collection of data on the citizenry.

Dr Ahmed said statistics showed that, girls and women were under represented in ICT courses in the senior, vocational, higher education and ICT based careers, adding, “ Due to socio-cultural reasons, girls are not encouraged to pursue academic careers in the social science and arts”.

“If this trend continues, many girls and young women stand the risk of becoming part of the information-poor and being excluded from the new and emerging jobs of the future.”

He said the Ministry would partner Ministry of Communication to develop a national separate National Strategy for Girls in ICT aimed at capturing girls' interest in ICT and help them realize their potential for success.

Dr Ahmed noted that the joint strategy would target several objectives, including changing attitudes, practice and increasing engagement of girls in ICT providing access and appropriate experiences and opportunity for the advancement of girls.**