Spokesperson of the Vice-President, Dr. Gideon Boako, has intimated that government is showing the needed interest and commitment to create a modern Ghanaian economy.
Commenting on government’s digitization initiatives, he stated that the modern economy will be one that can compete globally and conform to the dictates of the fourth industrial revolution.
“It is a conversation and political resolution that we must have as a country if indeed, we want to be equally competitive in the global space. Thankfully, the current political leadership led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is showing the needed interest and commitment to create a modern Ghanaian economy”.
Dr. Gideon Boako
Undoubtedly, Dr. Boako noted that the global development paradigm is moving from the industrial age into the technology and information age. He posited that the transition is coming with its own transition terms thus the need to digitalize.
Dr. Boako was reacting to the Communications Director of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, questioning government’s digitization agenda and also asserting that Ghana’s challenges do not lie in digitalization. Also
Government pursuing aggressive digitization
According to Dr. Boako, in nearly five years, government has been pursuing aggressive digitization and digitalization agenda by using ICT as a tool to achieve better governance. The overarching objective, he said, is to get government public institutions to use ICT to enhance their ways and means of linking with the general public.
“… in ways to reduce costs, improve performance, increase ease of access and speed of delivery and effectiveness. It is about how government organizes itself, its administration, rules and regulations and frameworks to coordinate and perform public administration”.
Dr. Gideon Boako
Touching on the benefits of these initiatives, he averred that digitalization is playing a critical role in the government’s quest to reduce the rate of unemployment in the country, despite a contrary claim by the opposition. He noted that digitalization is rather making life easy for Ghanaians by creating more jobs.
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According to Dr. Boako, embracing digital technologies means providing strategic drivers to create open participatory and trustworthy public sectors. Additionally, he said this will improve social inclusiveness and government accountability and bring together government and non-government actors to develop innovative approaches to national development and long-term sustainable growth. Also
Dr. Boako indicated that the nation has systems that are either malfunctioned, regressive, inefficient and not fit for modern day living. He added that it has taken political will on the part of Government to put these new systems in place since the old systems were beneficial to few to the detriment of the many.
“There is little immediate political benefit from implementing these innovations. It takes some time for the full benefits of digitalization to become obvious to many and manifest in our lives. Politicians generally cannot afford to wait. The infrastructure we have put in place for digitalization is soft infrastructure. It is not like a road or a bridge you can point to. But it is a powerful and an expanded highway for development”.
Dr. Gideon Boako
