Accra, May 26, GNA - An international computing forum opened in Accra on Monday with a call on the public, especially students, to patronize a programme dubbed; "International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL)", which provides an equal platform and standard training for all people irrespective of their location.

The ICDL programme is internationally recognized as the global standard for end-users computer skills and has been widely adopted by governments and international organizations in Europe and Africa. Mrs Jenny Van Neikerk, Chief Executive Officer for ICDL Africa, said the programme delivered quality certification to everyone who patronized it throughout the world.

She said the ICDL, which took students through programmes like Concepts of Information Technology, File Management, Word Processing, Spreadsheets, Databases, Presentations and Internet and Emails, was skills-based and not specific to an inventor like Microsoft. Mrs. Niekerk said the programme also focused on developing infrastructure with a special attention to schools including polytechnics and universities.

Mr. Anthony Harper, Development Coordinator for ICDL, Africa, who stressed the quality of the programme, noted that they adopted the same standards in terms of testing process and testing environment, and it was accessible to everyone.

Ms. Dorothy Gordon, Director-General of the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, urged ICT professionals especially in Ghana to make use of free software available on the Internet. Commenting on the ICDL programme in Ghana, she said the programme made people who patronized it to be competitive and called for collaboration in terms of knowledge sharing on ICT.

"The IDCL programme offers skills that can be transferred to any platform," she said, and noted that the programme could help government achieve her vision of transforming the Ghanaian economy into a knowledge-based one using ICT. Participants from Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone and Rwanda shared their experiences in the use of the ICDL.

Mr Ibrahim Bah, coordinator for the programme in French-speaking countries, said the programme which offered a common ICT standard was gradually succeeding in the elimination of barriers between French and English speaking countries in Africa. 26 May 08