Accra, Sept 25, GNA - Professor Mike Ocquaye, Minister of Communications, on Monday said all was set for Ghana to source 40 million dollars from the World Bank (WB) to start her E-Governance programme.
The E-Governance programme is expected to improve processing of transactions between the Government and other agencies. Speaking at the inauguration of a Master of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology (IT) programme at the Regent University College of Science and Technology in Accra, Prof Ocquaye said Ghana and the World Bank had already signed the necessary document a month ago to enable the latter access the Fund.
The Regent University College, a private Institution, is the first university ever to introduce a Masters programme in IT in Ghana. Fifteen students from Ghana and Nigeria holding first degrees in computer science; electrical and information engineering were selected to start the two year Masters programme being run with the Deggendorf University in Germany.
Prof Ocquaye said with the current technological advancement, what Ghana needed was applied technology of which Regent University has set out to do. He praised the University for introducing the programme, saying it had helped cut down the stress of IT students who until now had to pursue their Masters Degree in computing and allied courses in overseas. He urged the University authorities to come together with other Universities to develop a proper curriculum in IT for their students. The Reverend Professor Emmanuel Kingsley Larbie, President and Chief Executive Officer, Regent University said students chosen to do the programme would have access to excellent facilities in Ghana and Germany and would be taught by seasoned professors.
He said such students would also do part of their studies in Germany where they would have access to some of the world's finest engineering and computer science laboratories.
"Our aim in putting together this arrangement is to effect technology transfer so that at the end of the day, you can use your training and exposure to initiate changes that will move the agenda of development of our Nation and our Continent forward." He appealed to the Government to ensure that those private universities, which were left out in the distribution of buses were attended to on time.
He indicated that Regent University needed such a bus urgently for its three satellite campuses and another fourth one soon to be established in Nungua in November 2006.
