The Minister of Communications and Technology, Mr. Felix Owusu Adjapong will open the 6th AITEC West Africa 2002 Exhibition and Conference at the Accra International Conference Centre today.

It is being organized by AITEC Ghana and co-hosted by the Ministry of Communication and Technology under the theme, "Developing a Knowledge Society for West Africa" and sponsored by EC Tech, Voltic, Siemens, Genysis, Omanfofor, the Soft Tribe, Arrow Network Systems and GHANA EVENTS.

The three-day exhibition comes along with many activities such as a special Trade Only Day at the VIP Lounge where Ministers of State, Chief Executive Officers, Chief Directors and key decision makers from both government and the private sector will meet exhibitors to discuss business, and place orders.

AITEC Ghana have instituted an award for the most unique product or service on display at the Innovation Zone where exhibitors will show to the public the very latest technology in the rapidly evolving Information Technology industry.

The product must be currently available on the Ghanaian marketplace.

A panel of judges will determine the product that in their opinions makes the most significant contribution to the development of the use of ICT in Ghana.

Over 50 reputable foreign and local IT companies will be showcasing their products, services and solutions.

Running alongside the exhibition is a two-day conference, which has been designed, to serve as a critical IT education training and professional development forum for IT professionals and experts in the sub region.

The conference is expected to be attended by over 100 foreign and local IT professionals and experts.

Some prominent speakers at the conference are Professor Clement Dzidonu, (International Institute of information Technology) from Ghana.

Others are Aki Debayo Doherty (Managing Director of Hammatan, USA), Mark Fischer (ClSSP USA), Nigel Morris - Cotterill (Security Expert USA), Michael Tolub (IP Planet Israel) and Knud Erik Skouby from Denmark.

The unique feature about this year?s conference is the Executive Challenge that is a follow up on the key issues discussed at the conference.

Participants will be required to produce a two-page summary of key issues discussed at the conference and also what effect the conference had on their work environment.

At the end of the day, the challenge will go through an objective judgment, the best participants will be selected and prices worth over thousands of dollars will be awarded.