Whale Cloud has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with government on innovative city development policy at the headquarters of Alibaba Group.

Ben Zhou, CEO of Whale Cloud (rebranded from ZTEsoft), and Ursula Owusu Ekuful, Minister for Communications of the Republic of Ghana, signed the MoU on behalf of each party.

This agreement will reinforce mutual cooperation and fuel innovation and smart city development in the country, applying the cutting-edge technologies and solutions developed by Whale Cloud and Alibaba Cloud.

Under the agreement, Whale Cloud will form a strategic partnership with the Communication Ministry to deliver its Innovative City solutions to resolve these challenges in the capital city of Accra.

Using cloud architecture, Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Artificial Intelligence technology jointly developed by Whale Cloud and Alibaba Cloud, the Innovative City solutions will help launch rich industrial applications quickly on the platform of a unified operation centre. 

It includes e-Government, ET City Brain, Mobile Payment and a Unified Media Center etc., which can help government solve urban governance issues with the support of machine learning and AI algorithms, improve the efficiency of governance and lower the costs of government operations, in order to transform Accra into an innovative and digitalized city.

Whale Cloud and Alibaba Cloud will also provide strategic and professional advice to transform the e-commerce landscape and help e-commerce business development in Ghana to flourish.

“Building connected and tech-driven urban areas is key to Ghana’s rapid urbanization. We look forward to working with Whale Cloud and Alibaba Cloud to utilise ICT innovations to improve the quality of life of citizens and promote efficiency, transparency, expedite the provision of services to citizens while reducing the opportunities for corruption.

“We will work with tried and tested partners like Alibaba to make Ghana a digital and dynamic country for citizens, businesses and investors”, Mrs Owusu Ekuful said.

For his part, Mr Zhou said they are pleased to partner with the Communications Ministry to leverage their expertise and industry-proven solutions to make Accra an innovative city.

“We will help Ghana lead the way in digital economy and accelerate its journey towards sustainable prosperity”, he added.