By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Kumasi, June 28, GNA – Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Digitalization, has expressed satisfaction at the turnout of huge women’s participation in the Digital Transformation Center (DTC) Project.
The project, which began in 2020, had so far trained over 22,000 people, exceeding the normal target of 17,200 persons across the country.
Out of this number, more than 14,000 (68 percent) of them are women.
It is being implemented by the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC), together with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Cisco, to train many Ghanaians in basic and intermediate digital skills.
“I am happy that digital technology has benefited a lot of people across the country and the target beneficiaries including non-literate persons, women entrepreneurs, persons with disability, out of school youth, students, and school teachers, have all gained digital essential skills required for success in today’s unfolding digital world.”
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful, who was speaking at the closeout ceremony of the DTC Project in Kumasi, noted that, last year the project partners extended it to the visually impaired persons, and it was heartwarming and gave credence to the desire not to leave anyone behind.
Digital transformation, according to the Minister, transcended challenges we faced as people adding that “I am glad that having trained trainers who can assist the visually impaired as part of GIFEC’s normal programming, will extend our assistance to them as well.”
She said under the project, many schools for persons with disabilities were provided with assisted devices and now can teach them to utilize those devices optimally.
The Minister said under the Ghana Digital Acceleration Project, which had just been introduced with funding from the World Bank, there was a key component targeted at assisting persons with disability working through their national associations, “and this comes to add another layer of support to our differently abled citizens.”
This could enhance their independence, employability, and social inclusion.
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful said the DTC had benefited communities and families and the nation as a whole, by way of advancing digital transformation.
She said the training would be part of GIFEC’s programmes to ensure its sustainability after the end of the project and called on stakeholders to assist in building upon the legacies.
Mrs. Eva Andoh-Poku, the Administrator, GIFEC, indicated that digital skills were no longer a convenience but a necessity in a society where technology permeated our daily lives.
She said GIFEC, since its establishment in 2004, had provided solutions to achieving universal access and digital inclusion in the remotest parts of the country and to all unserved and underserved communities.
The DTC Project was therefore essential to bridge the digital skills gap which became more pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath.
GNA