Oyibi (GAR), May 21, GNA - To boost communications in the country, the Ministry of Communications has come out with a new policy known as the Ghana National ICT for Accelerated Development which would help to create a people centred, inclusive and development oriented information society.

The policy would also give prominence to the fact that education, knowledge, information and communication were the core for human progress and that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) play a great role in virtually all aspects of human lives and the fact that technologies open new opportunities for development. Speaking at the Third ICT Exposition organised by Valley View University at Oyibi on Tuesday, Mr Kwesi Adu-Gyan, Chief Director of the Ministry of Communications, said many of the country's problems could have been solved if there had been the requisite ICT skills in its human resource to undertake the necessary changes of the nation's economy. "The wealth of a country is represented by the quality of its human resources, how well they are trained and the skills that they possess especially in this age of information and knowledge society," he emphasized.

Dr. Seth Laryea, President of Valley View University, said the idea for the institution of the ICT Expo was to demonstrate the fact that given the necessary training and assistance, young people in the society could become assets rather than liabilities.

He lauded the idea that since the inception of the Exposition three years ago, other institutions had been inspired to follow suit. He appealed to the government to develop a strategy which would ensure that all teachers in the country became computer literate and also liaise with computer manufacturing companies which would produce inexpensive computers for distribution to all junior and senior high schools.

Dr. Laryea urged all organizations to fully participate in ICT expositions which the university would organize since they stood to gain immensely from them.

Out of the numerous projects undertaken by the students only 10 were selected for this year's exhibition due to the impact they were expected to make on some key sectors of the economy. These included a Road Maintenance and Monitoring System, which is capable of keeping track of all road events, maintenance schedules of vehicles and also alerting road officers of their maintenance schedules. Also on display was a Transport Management System for CEPS officials which could capture all relevant information on vehicles including information on their purchase date, total purchase cost, model and the year of manufacture. A machine which could track and resolve any situation that might arise as a result of mistake or attempted fraud in the case of Instant Money Transfer was also displayed.