Agriculture, Civil Society, Economy, Education, Government, Health, Human Resource Development, Infrastructure, and Research and Development

Agriculture - agro-business industry development, food security, rural development, export diversification, commercialisation, agricultural practices, agriculture extension services, market research, rural infrastructure development, natural resource management, and geographical information system (GIS) technologies.

Civil Society - community buy-in, gender empowerment, community development programmes, communications, e-services, women’s networking initiatives, illiteracy, National Media policy, and national security and law and order.

Economy - private sector development, public private partnership, value-added services sector development, ICT products and services industry, software development industry, competition, sustainable development, poverty reduction, local and foreign direct investment, fiscal policies, financial markets, technological innovation, and research and development.

Education - universal basic education, higher education, research, infrastructure, illiteracy, financial and technical resources, learning materials, science and technology education, electronic distance education, information networks, local/international collaboration, technical and vocational education, accreditation and examination bodies, human resource development, educational management and information systems, and gender equality.

Government - e-government, efficiency, effectiveness, organisational systems, work ethics, human resource capability, communications systems, transparency, accountability, universal access, and electronic voting.

Health - administration, telemedicine, accessibility, electronic health networks, Health Management Information Systems, National Health Insurance, and human resource development.

Human Resource Development - educational system, government and public sector training, private sector training, gender empowerment, accessibility to training for vulnerable groups, technical and vocational education and training, academic/vocational/industry linkages, internships/co-opts and work-study programmes, education and vocational training standards, ICT skills accreditation standards.

Infrastructure - ICT and physical infrastructure development, telecommunications and communications infrastructure, research and development, renewable energy sources, private sector, private investment, road network, international standards, legal and regulatory framework, cyber-laws, technological neutrality, universal service and access to information.

Research and Development - industrial technology development infrastructure, recyclable materials technologies, human resource development, agricultural research, biomedical research, ICT research, local and international collaborative research, and technology transfer.

This summary is part of a research project carried out between March and October 2006 in support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), one of The Communication Initiative (The CI)'s partners.

The information and communication technology for accelerated development (ICT4AD) Policy is the result of a three phased process to develop an ICT-driven socio-economic development policy and plan that aims to aid Ghana’s developmental effort and facilitate the process of becoming a knowledge based information society and economy in the shortest possible time.

During the first phase of the ICT4AD process, a framework document for the ICT-led socio-economic development of Ghana was created. Phase 2 of the ICT4AD process saw the development of the current policy and is based on the framework document, which is entitled “An Integrated ICT-led Socio-economic Development Policy and Plan Development Framework for Ghana”. During the third phase of the ICT4AD process, an implementation plan will be developed to translate policy commitments into concrete programmes and initiatives.

Priority areas have been designated for the ICT4AD Policy and include: Human Resource Development, Education, Government and Governance, Private Sector Development, ICT Products and Services Industry Development, Agriculture and Agro-Business Industry Development, Value-Added Services Sector Development, ICT Community buy-in, National Health, ICT Physical Infrastructure Development, and Research and Development.

The overall goal of the policy is to construct an ICT-led socio-economic development process with the potential to transform Ghana into a middle income, information-rich, knowledge-based and technology driven economy and society.

The wide-ranging objectives of the policy are as follows:

To create the necessary enabling environment to facilitate the deployment, utilisation and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society: support the development of a viable knowledge-based ICT industry to facilitate the production, manufacturing, development, delivering, and distribution of ICT products and services; support the development of a competitive high value-added services sector, to serve as an engine for accelerated development and economic growth with the potential to develop into a regional business-services and ICT hub; and facilitate the modernisation of the agricultural sector through the deployment and exploitation of ICTs to improve on its efficiency and productivity.

To facilitate the development process of national human resource capacity and the nation’s R&D capabilities to meet the changing needs and demands of the economy: promote an improved educational system within which ICTs are widely deployed to facilitate the delivery of educational services at all levels; and accelerate the development of women and eliminate gender inequalities in education, employment and decision making by building capacities and providing opportunities for girls and women through the deployment and exploitation of ICT.

To support the modernisation of the Civil and Public Services in order to facilitate improvements on operational effectiveness, efficiency and services delivery through institutional reforms and the deployment and exploitation of ICTs: guide the development and implementation of electronic government and governance, as well as electronic commerce and business strategies and action plans; and facilitate a wide-spread deployment and exploitation of ICTs within society to support the delivery of health and social services.

To facilitate the development, expansion, rehabilitation and the continuous modernisation of the national information and communications infrastructure: facilitate the development and implementation of the necessary legal, institutional and regulatory framework and structures required for supporting the deployment, utilisation and development of ICTs; facilitate the development and promotion of the necessary standards, good practices and guidelines to support the deployment and exploitation of ICTs within society and economy.