THE Ghana Web Awards has been instituted to recognise and evaluate the standard of excellence in the development and use of the worldwide web in the country in order to encourage indigenous web designers and programmers to attain higher heights.

It is built on the objective of encouraging the use of the Internet, particularly by corporate organisations, encouraging creative talents of local web designers, encouraging the use of best practices in web development and the promoting local sites to the outside world.

This year’s event will also embark on a special programme of visiting schools in the rural areas to teach them basic lessons in Internet applications and designing in an attempt to bridge the digital divide among Ghanaians.

The first awards was organised last year by Mr Ashim Morton, a private businessman and a host of Information, Communications and Technology companies.

The Chief Director of the Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs, Mr Kofi Sakyi-Armah, who performed the launch on behalf of the sector minister, said Ghana will next month launch its government portal, an Internet-based device that will provide information on government activities in an interactive manner.

He said the portal entails an online and off-line electronic services, including electronic service (E-service) delivery and electronic government (E-government) operations with the people and within Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Mr Sakyi-Armah said the portal will make it possible for Ghanaians to access online services such as tax filing, purchasing customs forms for clearing and forwarding goods, registration of land, births and deaths, purchasing passport forms and the renewal of drivers licences.

He said the E-government operations will entail the electronic conduct of government business between MDAs and their regional or district offices on one hand and within the MDAs on the other.

The portal will also make it possible for the public to monitor government expenditure returns and payments from the district and regions as well as participate in various national activities such as voter registration, change of voter identification cards and census enumeration, Mr Sakyi-Armah stated.

He was optimistic that the programme will achieve the intended objectives to help in the socio-economic development of the country.

He expressed the hope that the web awards will serve as a forum to market the existence of the over 2000 Ghanaian websites both locally and internationally to enhance the country’s commerce and industry.

The Chairperson of partners of the event, Mrs Mavis Quarcoo, who gave an overview of the awards, announced that eligible website nominees must be those developed in Ghana for companies working in Ghana and must be submitted before the end of May 2003.

The Managing Director of Tinifa Company Limited, Nana Yaa Owusu-Prempeh, who chaired the function, said the ICT industry is going through a “roller coaster” drill and is facing a lot of bottlenecks.

He said this includes financial constraints, huge taxation and the lack of incentives for investing in ICT and appealed to the government to act swiftly to enable the sector to become effective and competitive.

She commended the organisers of the event and expressed the hope that it will impact positively on the social and economic development of the nation

Address delivered by the Hon. Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs, Mr. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, at the launch of the Ghana Web Awards 2003 on Thursday, 20th February, 2003

DISTINGUISHED INVITED GUESTS,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

It is a pleasure to be associated with the launch of the Ghana Web Awards 2003, which aims; I am informed, at the institutionalization of standards of excellence in the development and management of the World Wide Web in Ghana.

Generally speaking, institutionalization of standards of excellence in the national fabric should be seen as critical in our collective efforts to attain positive results in the pursuit of rapid socio-economic development.

I wish, therefore, to congratulate the initiators and sponsors of this award programme for this initiative at promoting excellence in ICT applications.

Mr. Chairman, we need timely, reliable and scientific data in the planning, implementation, management and evaluation of our national development initiatives and ICT is undoubtedly the essential tool of communication in today’s knowledge society.

We therefore should embrace projects like the World Wide Web Award that contribute to the knowledge society in Ghana, the emphasis on the development of local content, promotion of local sites to the outside world and the use of best practices in Web Sites development.

As affirmed in the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President, government is committed to the fullest realization of national ICT literacy and technology spread and will leave no stone unturned in making sure that ICT is available countrywide.

Government is determined to establish an information and knowledge economy as a fundamental basis for wealth creation and national prosperity. Already the national digital divide is being bridged by the development of a national IT backbone, an expansion of telephony and regional IT centers under the Ghana India ICT Centre of Excellence project.

When this programme is fully implemented, the whole country will be so E-interconnected that government will be positioned to provide its services in the most comprehensive, efficient and effective manner to the people.

I wish at this point to announce that Ghana will launch its Government Portal next month to provide across the board information on government activities in an interactive manner.

This will also entail the provision of online and offline services encompassing E-service delivery and E-government operations with the people and within MDAs.

E-service will involve products and services such as research, production, and country information. Others are economic data, press summaries and documentation.

It should also be possible for Ghanaians in due course to access online services such as tax filling, purchase of custom forms for clearing and forwarding of goods, registration of lands, births and deaths, purchases of passport forms and renewal of driver licenses, among others.

E-government operations additionally will involve on-line conduct of government business between MDAs and their Regional or District Offices on one level and within the MDAs on another level.

It will be possible to monitor government expenditure returns and payments from the district and regions; whilst voter registration, change of voter cards, voting at elections, census and other enumerations can be conducted at the press of a button anywhere in the country.

This exercise, which seems ambitious, I can assure you, is achievable and the Ministry’s programme targets more than 50% delivery within the budget year.

As alluded to earlier, the Governments of Ghana and India are collaborating to construct an Information Technology Centre in Accra to make the acquisition of IT literacy easily and readily available nationwide.

In this endeavour, ten regional multi-media rural ICT Centres are being established under the project to narrow the information gap between rural and urban dwellers.

I am sure you will agree that narrowing the information gap would lead to more effective governance and promote people centred development.

The main agenda of governance, needless to reiterate, is to bring socio-economic development to the people, and we believe that this can only be attained when a democratic, participatory and responsive public information programme is institutionalized where the people are the most important players and where the needs of the people dictate government programmes.

With this in mind, the Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs with the assistance of the World Bank, is emplacing, a Development Communication Enhancement Programme to drive national development programmes.

We aim at interactive consultation for policy formulation, leading to common ownership of projects to ensure better implementation.

Under our Development Communication agenda, it is envisaged that development communication will be mainstreamed into all national development initiatives. No projects will be undertaken by any MDA without a development communication component. Information must freely flow to the people as of right.

We also need to underscore that effective communication can only be driven by trained and effective communicators. Under the Development Communication Enhancement Programme, there is a well-structured component for institutional revamping of government PR agencies, training and capacity building of communication training institutions to produce competent and professionally skilled communicators.

Training and the acquisition of communication skills is also being extended to the Executive, Senior Government Officials, and the Information Services Department field officers.

These functionaries have been identified as key players whose communication skills will be sharpened to position them for effective communication with the people to prosecute our good governance agenda.

The Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs is also collaborating with private research and marketing institutions to deepen and praticalise these areas of communication in the overall public information programme.

In all that we are doing, Mr. Chairman, the government is committed to use IT as a principal conveyor belt for forging dialogue with the citizens, in providing data for economic activities, to open the activities of government to public scrutiny and by so doing promoting democracy and efficiency.

Our national E-governance Portal will be linked to web sites not only within the government machinery but the private sector as well.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am reliably informed that awards will be made in 34 categories, providing information and data in a cross section of sectors crucial to the socio-economic development of Ghana. This exercise should be useful to our Portal developers to establish useful linkages.

We are told that there are over 2000 websites, which have been designed for economic development yet only a few people are aware of the existence of this valuable source of information and data.

Your programme should therefore serve to market locally and externally the existence of these websites whose effective exploitation will enhance Ghanaian commerce and industry.

Mr. Chairman, I wish, once more, to congratulate the initiators of this awards programme and wish to call on everyone to give every support necessary to make it a big success.

On this note, it is my singular pleasure and honour to declare the Ghana Web Awards 2003 duly launched.

I thank you for your kind attention.