The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has said, the implementation of the Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) policy in 2003 has better the country’s economic system in many ways.
“Since the adoption and implementation of the Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) policy in 2003 serving as a framework to guide all sectors of the economy, Ghana has witnessed the impact of ICTs in health, education, agriculture, tourism, finance, information, communication, security, etc., and general service delivery” she said.
The Minister made this known when she was speaking at a stakeholder forum to engage and educate ICT industry players on NITA’s regulatory activities and solicit feedback to fine-tune its implementation strategy on Monday 19th December 2022 at Kofi Annan Centre for Excellence (KACE) which was under the theme, ‘Regulating ICT Businesses and Practitioners in Ghana: Opportunities and Challenges’.
Mandate
Explaining the importance of other innovative ideas implemented towards the country’s digital agenda, the Minister said, her Ministry spearheaded such moves to bring services and technological systems closer to the public.
“Ministry was mandated to lead and champion the Government’s Digital Agenda through the implementation of digital initiatives to bring services closer to the people. We can all attest to the embossment of digital addresses at our houses and business, implementation of interoperability platform that has enabled the digital financing sector and roped in more to bank using the mobile money platform, issuance of Ghana card and its integration with SSNIT, Bank Accounts, SIMs, and other critical services where verification and authentication are required, the Ghana.Gov platform for access and payment of public services, etc. The private sector I must say has also stepped up to the plate and effectively matched these developments with innovation and technology in their service delivery as well and all these are fast tracking our development.
“The benefits of these initiatives to the citizens cannot be quantified. The ICT sector therefore requires a strong regulator ensuring that businesses thrive and consumers receive value for money on products, solutions and services rendered by the ICT industry. The Ministry realized there was a gap in the implementation of NITA’s regulatory mandate, and directed the leadership of NITA to refocus its attention on its core mandate of regulating the ICT space whilst the operational aspect of its activities is handled by a technical partner.”
Systems
She explained and detailed government plans on making regulatory systems transparent, as well as a smooth system to enable business operations survive for growth and development.
“We will build regulatory systems and platforms to make regulations more efficient, transparent, and practical and as much as possible, eliminate multiple regulatory burdens on businesses and practitioners.
“As the sector grows, it comes with its associated risk and hazards that requires proper management to prevent loss of resources for citizens, businesses, and the economy at large. It is therefore imperative that Government partners with the private sector to ensure that systems are standardized to withstand attacks.”
