Accra, Aug. 23, GNA – The fifteen-year
old girl stood animatedly with a huge pair of robotic headsets around her head
and in her tiny hands, she held what looked like two virtual reality gear
sticks; ready for battle.
The giant virtual reality screen behind
her, came to life and she jumped into action, shooting at unseen figures across
the room and for a moment in her mind, she was saving humanity.
The seventh floor of Vodafone Ghana’s
headquarters at Airport was packed to capacity.
Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of
Communications, was seated attentively looking on while, by her side was Mrs
Patricia Obo-Nai, the Chief Executive of Vodafone Ghana.
Kicking, screaming, shooting, ducking
and jumping, the young warrior was visibly shaken and behind her, the crowd
could see, on a screen, what she was aiming her shots at.
There were lots of laughter in the room
and everybody seemed to be enjoying him or herself.
It was Wednesday, August 21, 2019, and
Vodafone Ghana was giving digital tour for 60 girls from the Western Region’s
‘Girls-In-ICT initiative’ group.
Mrs Ekuful, an advocate of the
initiative, had also taken time off to be part of the event.
To make this happen, a team at Vodafone,
with support from the Chief Executive and Mr Srabasti Bhattacharjee, the
Technology Director of Vodafone Ghana, had put a sophisticated programme
together with brief sessions in 3D printing, VR technology, Robotics, Coding
and Machine learning to give the girls a glimpse into the future.
On the first floor, staff volunteers
Manuella and Alfred were busily piecing wires and other components together to
create mini robots. The young girls, fascinated, hung on their every word and
move. A whole new world was opening up before their eyes.
Soon the Minister and Chief Executive
joined them. A white imposing humanoid robot, stationed at the entrance said
hello to the Minister.
“How are you?” Mrs Ekuful replied.
“Oh that is interesting,” said the
robot.
“What is interesting?” Mrs Ekuful shot
back.
Pockets of laughter could be heard all
around.
Mrs Obo-Nai’s passion for women in
technology has never been in doubt. Even before becoming Chief Executive, she
had been instrumental in setting up the ‘Women in ICT’ group at Vodafone.
She was also the brain behind the Female
Engineering Students Sponsorship Programme (FESSP), while the company’s
Diversity and Inclusion programme has her as a key sponsor.
“What is terrific about Vodafone is
that, we recognise the ability of young women to change their eco-system
through the power of technology,” she said to welcome the girls.
The Girls in ICT programme seems to have
taken off on a good note with the full backing of government, through the
Communications Ministry.
Already, 60 brilliant girls are being
empowered to take up studies and eventual careers in ICT to bridge the gap
between male and female participation in this field. It is a known fact that
there are greater benefits to be reaped by Ghana if a good number of girls take
up the challenge.
“These are some of the things we
are supporting in order to change attitudes towards ICT in Ghana. I am happy to
say that coding, for example, will be introduced in the mainstream syllabi for
the next academic year,” Mrs Ekuful said.
Over the years, Vodafone has been
instrumental in initiatives that drive digitalisation and women inclusion.
Through its Foundation, the company is already making waves across the country
with its Nationwide Coding programme and digital education platform – ‘Instant
Schools’.
The coding project is to empower 10,000
youth within five years with basic coding skills whilst the Instant Schools
platform had already recorded close to five million hits on the site.
“As a very progressive company, we
view technology as our stock-in-trade. Our brand promise – “The Future is
Exciting. Ready?” represents what we mean by giving our customers and the
community, confidence and optimism,” Mr Srabasti said.
GNA
