Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has been adjudged the Digital Leader of the
Year at the Ninth Ghana Information Technology and Telecom (GITTA) Awards for
championing the digital transformation of the Ghanaian economy.
The award conferred
on the Vice President, was in recognition of his untiring efforts to leverage
on technology to improve service delivery in the public sector and to
facilitate rapid economic growth.
The annual event,
organized by the Instinct Wave was intended to recognize the contributions of
industry players and individuals for their outstanding performance, creativity
and inventing innovative products and services to better the lots of the
people.
It was held on the
theme: “Celeb rating Innovation and Excellence in the ICT Sector”, which
attracted key stakeholders in the telecom and information communication
technology industry.
Vice President
Bawumia, in an address, lauded industry players for their enormous contribution
to the economy that has witnessed improvement in public service delivery.
He noted that the
benefits of a digitised economy could not be over emphasized as it had the
potential of moving the country beyond aid.
He announced that
the Bank of Ghana (BoG) would by the end of the year, introduce a universal QR
code to accept different cashless payments systems, which would save merchants
from displaying several points of sale devices to receive payments and speed up
the revolution of the banking system in the country.
Dr Bawumia said the
universal QR code would enable mobile money merchants to use only their mobile
phones for financial transactions and make the cashless economy a reality.
Highlighting some of
the digital initiatives implemented by the government, Vice President Bawumia
mentioned the digital address system, paperless ports system, medical drone
delivery service and e-procurement system as well as the mobile money
interoperability system that had enhanced financial inclusion of the unbanked
segment of the population.
The Vice President
re-affirmed government’s commitment to make wireless internet service free at
the various senior high schools and tertiary educational institutions across
the country and urged the telecommunication firms to come on-board to make it a
reality.
The awards ceremony
witnessed some public and private sector organisations rewarded for their
contributions to the public sector reforms while their Chief Executive Officers
(CEOs), especially those who embraced digitisation for effective and efficient
delivery of public services honoured.
The Driver Vehicle
and Licensing Authority (DVLA) took home three awards in recognition for its
innovative reforms in application, processing and renewal of driver’s licenses
while the Authority’s CEO, Mr Kwasi Agyeman Busia was adjudged the Best Public
Sector CEO of the Year for his outstanding contribution to the public sector.
Mr Joe Anokyi, the
CEO of the National Communications Authority, was adjudged the Best Public
Sector Telecom CEO of the Year, Mr Archie Hesse, the CEO of the Ghana Interbank
Payment and Settlement System was adjudged the Best Payment Industry CEO of the
Year and Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the CEO of MTN received the Telecom CEO of the
Year for the private sector category.
Mrs Ursula
Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communications took home the Industry Personality
of the Year.
The Ghana Police
Service was adjudged the Best Government Use of Social Media for Citizen
Engagement, Ghana Community Network Service Limited (GCNet) received an award
for being the Best Public Sector e-Solution Provider, the National Cyber
Security Centre was adjudged the Best for Excellence in Cyber Security
Initiative, Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) took
home the Best Public Sector Institution for Transforming Education through
Technology.
Earlier in his
welcome remarks, Mr Akin Naphtal, the CEO of Instinct Wave, said the awards
night provided exceptional opportunity for stakeholders to network, entertain
clients and reinforce relationships with partners and reward staff with
exceptional performance.
Source: GNA
