The Deputy Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Ama Pomaa Boateng, has called on key players in the ICT and tech space to collaborate and drive digital inclusiveness to promote economic growth.

She said Information and Communication Technology (ICT) was an enabler of progress that would help to match digital skills and opportunities with jobs, particularly bridging the gap between academia and industry to create a prosperous future.

The Deputy Minister said this at the launch of the National ICT Week and World Technology Forum on the theme: "Empowering Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development," held by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), together with the Chartered Institute of Computing and Information Technology (CICIT).

The World Technology Forum is the brainchild of CICIT whose vision is to get the world to converge in Ghana annually to discuss global technology issues and advancement.

Speaking on behalf of Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Madam Boateng said that rapid advancements in ICT had the potential to revolutionise every aspect of people's lives and transform the nation's trajectory towards sustainable development.

"The power of technology can bridge gaps, break barriers, and provide unprecedented access to essential services, education, healthcare, Agriculture and economic opportunities, even in the remotest parts of our country," Madam Boateng said.

She noted that ICT had become the catalyst in empowering the citizens and paving the way for a prosperous future.

She added that there would be continuous engagement with all stakeholders where comprehensive programmes would be designed to showcase the transformative impact of ICT in various sectors.

The launch is a two-day event ending Thursday, August 9, where there would be panel discussions to explore the challenges, opportunities, and best strategies for embracing digital solutions to address the pressing needs of our nation.

The 2024 event would bring together stakeholders from government, private sector, academia, and civil society to foster collaboration, innovation, capacity building and knowledge sharing.

"Throughout the week, NITA will host a series of events that highlight successful ICT initiatives already making a positive impact in our society. That is from e-governance solutions, streamlining public service delivery to digital literacy programmes empowering our citizens," the Deputy Minister said.

Experts and leaders would be expected to share their insights on accelerating the adoption of ICT in sectors like agriculture, healthcare, education, and finance whilst focusing on building digital skills, particularly for our youth to drive Ghana's digital economy.

Mr Richard Okyere-Fosu, Director General of NITA, said harnessing the potential of information and communication technology would help Ghana move toward sustainable development and creating the necessary awareness of ICT products and their usage is vital for the development.

"We are at a critical juncture in our nation's history where digitalisation is taking over all sectors in society. I pledge our unwavering commitment to driving this transformation and to supporting all stakeholders in their efforts to embrace the digital future and the ICT week will help create the needed awareness," he said.

Mr Okyere-Fosu said throughout the week-long celebration, next year, the goal is to foster a collaborative environment where ideas, innovations, and knowledge could be shared freely, leading to novel solutions for the challenges Ghana faced.

He said Ghana has established Accra-based National Data Centre and Kumasi-based Disaster Recovery (DR) location and the government recently launched a Government Cloud (G-Cloud) to provide Cloud services to government institutions.

Ghana is also collaborating with Smart Africa to create federated Cloud solutions throughout the continent to accomplish two crucial goals: creating locally consumable content and keeping the data produced on the continent.