By Yaw
Ansah, GNA
Accra, Oct. 3, GNA – The Government of India
has presented a cheque of one million dollars to the Ghana–India Kofi Annan
Centre of Excellence (GI-KACE) in Information Communication Technology (ICT),
to strengthen ICT Research and Innovation in country.
The fund, which is a grant, would support the
Centre in capacity building for the expansion needs of ICT research product
development and service delivery.
Over the next three years, the grant would be
used to develop human resource and state-of-the-art ICT laboratories, a
self-sustaining system to take up assignments in technology development,
research backed by a self-sustaining business model.
Speaking at a brief ceremony to hand over the
cheque in Accra, Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye, Speaker of Parliament, called on
the authorities of GI-KACE to lead the rationalization and categorisation of
ICT studies in the country to ensure standardization.
He said there is the need to re-assess the
mandate of the Centre and make it autonomous to enable it to contribute to the
government agenda.
Prof Oquaye said technology is the future of
the world and urged the youth to embrace and harness its benefits to address
the challenges of the country.
“ICT is transforming the world to the extent
that it is helping countries to conduct successful elections, tax system,
transport, agriculture, environment and water and sanitation,” he said.
Prof Oquaye said Parliament would collaborate
with GI-KACE and other stakeholders to computerize the parliamentary work and
make it paperless.
Touching on the bilateral relationship between
Ghana and India, he said that Ghana has benefited from many projects including
the grant for the building of the Jubilee House, grant for GI-KACE and farming
equipment including tractors, vehicles and motorbikes.
He likened Mahatma Ghandi, the Father of
Modern India’s achievements to that of the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah, and Mr Nelson
Mandela, ex-president of South Africa saying Gandhi campaigned against
oppression and was a freedom fighter.
Mr Birender Singh Yadav, India High
Commissioner to Ghana, who presented the cheque, said the support was part of
activities to mark the 150th birthday celebration of Mahatma Gandhi.
He said Gandhi was a transformative and
inspirational figure who served as a shining beacon of hope for millions of
people fought for the life of equality, dignity, inclusion and
empowerment.
Mr Yadav said in an era where climate change
and environmental degradation has become central issues of discussion, the
world could refer to the thoughts of Gandhi.
“He continually educated people to exercise
restraint and compassion while utilising natural resources and, he himself led
by example in doing this. He cleaned his own toilets, ensuring clean
surroundings. He also ensured minimal wastage of water and when he was in
Ahmedabad, he took great care to ensure that unclean water did not merge with
the Sabarmati.”
Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, Director General of GI-KACE,
said a team of officials from the organization would travel to India this month
to sign a memorandum of understanding to formalized the support that would
witness deliverables including the establishment of a state-of-the art
facilities in the areas of software development, quality control, and
E-Learning facilities.
He said as part of the grants GI-KACE would
with the Centre for the Development of Advanced Computing (CDACIndia), develop
and deliver online content to enable both public and private workers to build
their capacities in ICT to bridging the digital divide.
The grants, Mr Adu-Gyan said, would help the
Centre to develop its capacity be in line with worldwide standards and
processes of doing things in the field of IT and Engineering.
“These are international benchmarks that
ensure that ICT/Engineering products and services created by an organization
are of the highest quality and accepted worldwide,” he added.
GNA