IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Only 34% of Africans think that votes are "always" counted fairly, according to the Afrobarometer reportreleased in September 2016. However, electronic voting in Namibia in 2014 has had a positive effect on fairness perception among voters in that country.

Several African countries have been battling with the idea of having full electronic voting. Countries like Kenya, Ghana and Senegal have introduced the use of electronic systems in voter registration, voter identification and electronic relay of vote tallies, but not fully implemented digital voting.

The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has commenced digital skills training for 4,335 citizens, in Basic ICT Skills and Entrepreneurship, as part of the Digital Transformation Centres Project (DTC).

The two-week training, which began on April 11, 2023, and will end on April 28, 2023, is being carried out in 155 GIFEC Community ICT Centres (CICs) across the country.

The IMO committee, which has Ato Sarpong, Deputy Minister for Communication, as its chairman, has the core objective of guiding and ensuring that the e-Ghana project is well-executed.

In an address, the Minister for Communications, Dr Edward Omane Boamah, said the Ministry of Communications (MoC) had been implementing the e-Ghana project with a US$ 97 World Bank support which was expected to be completed in December 2014.

Denmark has provisionally handed over the Eastern Corridor Fibre Optic Network Extension Project to the Ministry of Communications, which will be managed by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA).

The 165 kilometres, which connects the Eastern Corridor Optic Fibre from Ho to Accra, was financed with a grant of € 3,795, 017 from the Danish Government.

It was on the theme: “Improving the Performance of the Local Government System in the era of E-Governance,” placing information communication and technology (ICT) at the centre of government dealings with citizens.

Mr Ahwoi made the suggestion at the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) passing-out parade of Recruit Course 46 at the Fire Academy and Training School (FATS) in Accra.

He said this will enable firefighting to attain a high level of sophistication and advanced technology in fighting and detecting fire outbreaks in the country.

Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, launched the E-justice project on March 20, 2019.

According to the president, E-justice is a platform developed to digitalize legal services like the payment of fines. The platform will also automatically attribute legal cases to judges and courts to reduce corruption and conflicts of interest.

Ghana must position itself to take advantage of the emerging digital economy to provide unique opportunities for an accelerated economic growth, Minister of Communication and Digitalisation (MoCD), Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has said.

Delivering the keynote address at the 14th International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Kaleidoscope Conference in Accra on Wednesday, the minister said efforts must be made by stakeholders in the private sector to compliment the government’s efforts of utilising technology and digitisation to transform the economy.

The Ghana Community Network Services Limited (GCNet) has indicated its willingness to continue to work with government to implement initiatives that will transform the country from a passive technology consumer to one of innovations.

The Executive Chairman of GCNet, Dr. Nortey Omaboe, who made the call, said the technology landscape was experiencing rapid transformation, which required the collaboration between governments and private sector technology experts to keep pace with the transformation.

The ultra modern state of the art service centre was handed over by the Huawei Technologies Limited to the Ministry of Communications to facilitate the delivery of Government services to citizens under the e-Government programme.

The platform spearheaded by the GRA is geared towards modernisation and automation of business processes to broaden the tax base by gathering the needed data to ensure transparency and efficiency as well as increase compliance.

The Ghanaian government has selected private firm Lebara Ghana Ltd. to manage and commercialise its e-Government infrastructure, including government fibre and LTE network for a period of ten years.

Lebara has been tasked to ensure accountability and compliance with service quality requirements as contained in the SLA entered into with the communications ministry.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said his government intends to establish a National Cyber Security Centre, to liaise with relevant state agencies and the private sector to oversee cyber security operations at the national level.

According to the President, the national identification system, the digital addressing system, e-payments, digital financial services as well as the various e-government initiatives being initiated by the government, could be adversely affected by cyber crime, hence the need for such a centre.

Tenancy applications at US$8.3 million facility are now open to businesses working in digital innovation.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and ICT companies looking to be hosted at the US$8.3 million Accra Digital Centre (ADC) can now apply for tenancy, according to Ghana Digital Centres Limited (GDCL) which runs ADC on behalf of Ghana's Ministry of Communications.

The e-Ghana Projects have three components; e-Health Project; E-Education Project and e-Justice System.

The e-Health Project, is being deployed at three sites; Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Wa Government Hospital and Zebilla District Hospital, to transform the hospitals and medical facilities to utilize ICTs as much as possible.

he Eastern Corridor subsea cable system in Ghana has begun its final phase of development and will be followed by 165km extension linking Accra to Ho.

The project which began in 2008 and is funded by a loan from the government of Denmark, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), for €38 million, aims to provide national data centre facilities and connect together all of its public institutions into a single communications infrastructure.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, made this known on Friday at the congregation ceremony held at the Great Hall on the Legon campus of the University.

Addressing the media during the occasion, he said the school has introduced new graduate programmes including Master of Science and Master of Philosophy programmes in Computer Science and Professional Master of Science programme in Medical Laboratory Sciences at the School of Allied Health Sciences.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers an excellent opportunity for economic growth in a developing country like Ghana.

ICT, as an enabler, has the capability to enhance economic growth by impacting all sectors of the economy if adopted and utilised appropriately. ICT can help citizens take advantage of economic opportunities by removing obstacles such as geographic isolation, high prices of goods and services, lack of information and exclusion. ICT can also offer a voice to the marginalised and help create social capital.

He said members were aware of the ill fated, inefficient and badly managed computer system like the Customs Excise and Preventive Service automated system for Customs data, compromised SSNIT’s database, Ministry of Education’s unreliable integrated personal pay data base and the Ghana commercial bank computer system.

They have also suggested to the government, as an interim measure, to augment the number of computers and workers at the only registration centre located in the Ministry of Finance.

They said these measures would lessen tension and corruption at the centre and relieve workers of nuisance and risk of having to travel to Accra to register.