Mr Charles Acheampong, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalization, says the prioritisation of data governance is crucial to the success of the government’s digitalization agenda.
Government investment in IT systems and technologies, he said, would best maximise the use of data by unlocking its potential, promoting data sharing, analytics, and reuse for the public good.
The Deputy Minister said this on Friday in Accra at a validation workshop on the Ghana National Data Strategy.
The validation workshop brought together stakeholders from government, the private sector, academia, civil society, and startups within the digital ecosystem to shape the trajectory of the nation’s data-driven future.
The Ministry of Communication and Digitalization, through the Data Protection Commission, is developing Ghana’s National Data Strategy.
The strategy includes financial assistance and support from the Data Economy Programme at GIZ, the African Union, the European Commission, technical assistance from Smart A
frica, and technical support from the Data-Pop Alliance.
Mr Acheampong said the purpose of the strategy was, among others, to develop both basic and economy-specific infrastructure and create trust mechanisms for both the public and private sectors of the economy.
He said Ghana was one of the implementation countries to foster digital skills, including data skills, for the Smart Africa Digital Academy.
‘A good data governance strategy includes a well-designed governance programme involving a governance team to steer the affairs and develop the data management standards and data stewards to implement, monitor, and enforce the related policies and procedures,’ he said.
Mr Acheampong, also the Member of Parliament for Lower West Akim, urged all institutions managing key data assets to contribute meaningfully to the deliberations for effective outcomes.
‘We hope that your deliberations will be fruitful and that we will be able to deliver the planned strategy as soon as possible,’ he said.
The Deputy Ministe
r assured participants of the government’s commitment to the project to develop a comprehensive working document.
Ms Patricia Poku, Executive Director, Data Protection Commission, said the strategy would strengthen the continent’s digitization effort for a single African market.
She said the validated document would be sent to the Ministry and further transmitted to Parliament for deliberations and action.
Ms Poku said Ghana would be the second country to develop the strategy with the quest to ensure consistency and standardisation of data management within the African sphere.
Ms Anna Lixi, Head of Section for Governance and Security, European Union Delegation to Ghana, said the strategy would facilitate economic and social innovation by ensuring the effective use of data.
Mr Bjom-Soren Gigler, Head, Data Economy at Data Governance in Africa Initiative, GIZ, stated that the document would protect citizens from potential risks associated with data use, describing ‘data as oxygen for the digital economy.’
M
s Thelma Quaye, Digital Infrastructure, Skills, and Empowerment at the Smart Africa Secretariat, said the document would be good for its effective implementation.
Source: Ghana News Agency
