Ghana has set herself a 2012 deadline to complete the switch from analogue broadcasting services in favour of digital broadcasting ahead of an international deadline of June 17, 2015. A 24-man National Migration Technical Committee to ensure that Ghana achieves the target was inaugurated in Accra on Wednesday with a mandate to make policy recommendations to situate the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting networks within the broader context of strengthening and developing Ghana's Information Infrastructure, and to determine how the transition of existing broadcasting services to digital broadcasting transmission networks and the introduction of new services will facilitate national government priorities, among others. Mr Joshua Peprah - Director, Regulatory Administration of the National Communication Authority will chair the Committee, which has also been tasked to recommend appropriate National Standards for Digital Broadcasting in Ghana; propose a switchover timetable for the approval of the Government; develop a framework to ensure a coordinated, cost-effective and environmentally friendly switchover process that ensures universal access to television services within a stipulated timeframe and also to develop a framework for the provision of support to the vulnerable in the switchover process. Other members of the committee are Mr Benard A. Forson, Jr – Director General of the NCA; Maj. Emmanuel Owusu-Adansi (Rtd) – Director, Special Projects, NCA; M. Henry Kanor – Ag. Director, Engineering, NCA and Mr Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko – Assistant Manager, Engineering, NCA. Others are Mr Issah Yahaya – Director, PPME; Mr Emmanuel Ofori – Asst. Director, PPME; Mr Kenney Osei and Ms Hawa Yakubu, all from the Ministry of Communications. From the Ministry of Information are Mr G.B.L. Siilo - Director, Finance & Administration and Ms Yvonne Quansah – Director, Aid and Debt Management Division. Ms Elizabeth Anane – Industrial Promotions Officer, SMS & Technology Division represents the Ministry of Trade and Industry while Mr Augustus Ken Kweku Eshun is from the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology with Mr Anim-Abdul Rahaman coming from the Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development. From the broadcast industry are Mr Alex Bannerman – Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission (NMC); Mr Oscar Nchor – Director, Technical Production at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC); and Chief Crystal Adjirakor - Vice President of Crystal TV representing the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA). The rest are Mr John K. Agbosege – Chief Collector, Asst. Commissioner, IT from the Customs Excise and Preventive Services (CEPS); Mr J.K. Baiden – Principal Standards Officer of the Ghana Standards Board; Mr Ebenezer Appah Sampong – Director, Environmental Assessment and Audit Department of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Dr Prosper K. Ashilievi – Dean Faculty of Telecom Engineering of the Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC); Stanley Opoku – Senior Technician, National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI); Mr Frank K. Boachie – Deputy Director, ICT Directorate of the University of Ghana (UG) and Dr Kwasi Diawuo – Dean, Faculty of Computer and Electrical/Electronic Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). Mr Joshua Peprah in a speech said that it was necessary for the country to make the switch, since it would bring the country closer to the digital realm for accelerated development. He assured of the committee’s commitment to complete its assignment on schedule and satisfactorily. Mr Kofi Totobi-Quakyi, board chairman of the National Communication Authority who chaired the inauguration ceremony and jointly conducted the event with the Communications Minister, Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, was hopeful that by 2012, the transition would be complete. He also expressed his preparedness and readiness to contribute to the committee’s work. Hon. Haruna Iddrisu also requested that Messrs Ekow Ansah of TV Africa and Kofi Nyantakyi of TV3 be included in the committee. Ghana has since 2006 been signatory to the Geneva 2006 (GE06) Agreement established during the Regional Radiocommunications Conference (RRC-06) held at Geneva which established the Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting Plan. The RRC-06 set 17 June 2015 as the deadline for the cessation of international protection for analogue broadcasting transmissions. Myjoyonline.com/Ghana