GIFEC declares 2014 as year of action

Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC) on Monday organised a press soiree to brief the media on its 2013 achievement and the way forward in 2014.

Mr Kofi Attor, Administrator and Chief Executive Officer of GIFEC said one of the achievements the fund has chalked out is to be awarded: "The Most Outstanding Universal Access Fund," by the International Telecommunication Union at the World Communication Awards held in Delhi, India, for excellent performance in the operations of Ghana's universal access fund and service.

He said GIFEC embarked on projects that connect the country's various institutions and villages in accessing information and communication.

He said modules of the projects include the Common Telecommunication / Rural Telephone, the Last Mile Initiative, Community Information Centre, Information Communication Technology (ICT) Capacity Building, the School Connectivity, Rural Pay Phone, Easy Business Centre, Library Connectivity and Security Connectivity Projects.

The others are the Disability, Posg Office Connectivity, ICT for Sustainable Fishing, The e-Learning, e-Health, Community Initiative, Content Creation and Public Education on Electromagnetic Fields Exposure and Health.

Mr Attor noted that GIFEC vision which is to bridge the digital divide between the served and unserved/underserved communities is on the right course, adding: "With this achievement we are getting there."

He said through the various modules of projects the fund has provided fully equipped and furnished ICT laboratories to 38 colleges of education, 27 technical schools, 10 national youth development institutes, 37 national vocational training centres, 25 community development schools, 62 nursing training schools, 293 senior high and 10 junior high schools and three opportunity indutrialisation centres and eight farm institutes.

Mr Attor said Ghana Police Service has received 60 desktop computers, 3000 dual sim mobile phones, 27 air conditioners, 30 routers, 10 projectors and 33 printers.

Ghana Prison Service received 500 mobile phones, 185 desktop computers, 17 air conditioners, 16 scanners, 10 projectors, 16 printers and 10 servers while Ghana National Fire Service received 500 mobile phones, 45 desktop computers, one scanner, one projector, one server and one printer.

The others are Ghana Armed Forces- 540 mobile phones, 400 desktop computers, 32 air conditioners, 15 projectors, 30 scanners and 22 printers while National Disaster Management Organisation had 200 desktop computers, 630 mobile phones and 15 printers.

Bureau of National Investigation received 200 desktop computers and 1000 mobile phones.

He declared 2014 as a year of action for GIFEC, which would enable the fund to earn more honours locally and internationally.