The National Information Technology Agency (NITA) in Ghana has called on countries in West Africa sub region to collaborate and work together to chat a common path in developing the needed Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as a policy.
The Director-General of the agency, Mr. Togbe Agyeman made the call on Friday during his remarks at the 2023 West Africa Media Excellence Conference (WAMECA) in Accra.
Agyeman, who was represented by Mr. Emmanuel Fiagbenus, the Head, Corporate Affairs in the agency, said the call became necessary to enhance access, ease of work and security for the works to the media entities knowing how critical they are to national development.
“Let us leverage the opportunities ICT (Information Communication Technology) offers us to develop ourselves, organizations and our respective countries. The media is relevant in all of this,” he said.
While outlining the efforts Ghana had made in digitalizing its economy, the director-general admitted, however, that he would not be able to give enough data on prevailing situation across West African countries due to sovereign issues.
The initial investment in digital public infrastructure in Ghana, he said, had led to the development of a Tier 3 Data Centres in Accra with a backup Data Centre in Kumasi, Accra Metro Fibre, Tamale Metro Fibre and Ho Metro Fibre as well as Eastern Corridor Fibre, laid from Accra to the Burkina Faso border.
To deepen a digital footprint in the region, he said a digital economy policy of the government was currently before the cabinet in the country and when approved, the agency would lead the implementation.
“Another initiative that NITA as the regulator will be rolling out will be the publishing of the Annual Digital Economy Index Report also known as the Inclusive Digital Economy Scorecard (IDES).
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, the government through NITA and other agencies building a robust IT infrastructure, developing policies and creating a conducive digit environment which the media in Ghana can take advantage of to advance the frontier on on development and democracy,” said the NITA boss.
The IT expert, meanwhile, applauded the role of the media in providing essential information on public policies, government initiative and holding governments accountable among others in the sub region.
“The importance of the media in all thriving democracies of the world is underscored by the position it occupies as the fourth most important institution in the governance structure of states.
“As such, policies of the state must be directed at facilitating their work. The work of the modern-day media hinges largely on ICTs as a tool of work and a medium for reaching and interacting with its audiences.
”The duty of every state therefore is to develop policies and build the right infrastructure to facilitate the work of its citizens including the media,” he said.
