Government, private sector must partner in socio-economic development - Angela Mensah-Poku

There is the need for collabo­ration between private organi­sations and government insti­tutions to generate insights that would contribute to community development and socio-economic policy, Angela Mensah-Poku, Commercial & Digital Operations Director of Vodafone Ghana has said.

“When we partnered with Ghana Statistical Service alongside Flow­minder, we were able to use this partnership to really drive insight-led decisions,” Angela Mensah-Poku stated.

The partnership has led to a wide range of use cases, such as disaster planning, tracking the spread of communicable diseases, and provid­ing critical information during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sharing her experiences on a successful public-private partnership, Data for Good, aimed at using aggre­gated anonymised data to improve the lives of Ghanaians at the United Na­tions World Data Forum via zoom on Tuesday, she mentioned that the data was used to predict the movement of people during the 2021 census in Gha­na, showcasing the potential impact of aggregated anonymised data on policy and resource allocation.

Speaking on the importance of building a data-driven ecosystem, she said, “By having the Hewlett team on board, having Flowminder on board, we were able to create a small eco­system. And then, with our successes with the data, we’ve been able to at­tract a wider set of partners, whether it’s from NGOs or private businesses, and I think that this encourages the ecosystem to grow larger and inspire more impactful global insights”.

One of the key aspects of the part­nership, she said, had been capacity building and knowledge transfer.

The UN World Data Forum, a hybrid event held both in-person and online this year, is taking place in Hangzhou, China.

The forum brings together leaders and experts from various sectors to discuss the power of data in shaping the future and creating a more inclu­sive and sustainable world.