The Government, through the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation in partnership with Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), on Wednesday, 29th March 2023, launched a $1.2 million digital skill training programme, named DigSMART.
Other partners are the Ghana Cares ‘OBAATANPA PROGRAMME’, the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) and the Ghana -India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE).
The programme is aimed at building digital skills, culture and leadership within the public sector to determine a more cohesive and accelerated digital transformation for service delivery.
The six months programme is scheduled to kick start from April to September 2023 at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT( GI-KACE) in Accra.
It is expected to train over 170 (One Hundred and Twenty) public sector workers from various levels of leadership, management and officers from MDAs.
The Deputy Minister, Ms. Ama Pomaa-Boateng Ama Pomaa-Boateng, who launched the programme on behalf of the Sector Minister, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, emphasized the point that “A collaborative effort by all leaders towards digital transformation, is a critical requirement for positive impact to be made”.
“As we are developing a new digital economy policy, we have put forward a vision with a key outcome to enable efficient delivery of government services” She observed.
She added that Digital transformation must happen, and it begins with the awareness of the need to change, and the willingness to do things differently.
The Minister said “we anticipate the need for change management in the adoption of a new way of working within government as well as to be effective in delivering inclusive, citizen-centric, secure digital services”.
She said that the DigSMART would also fast track Digitalisation so that public sector workers become more effective in their service delivery. It will cultivate a digital-first culture and develop visionary leaders who are adept at navigating tech policy.
The Country Director of TBI Ghana was full of excitement to be part of the transformational effort that he said will have a positive ripple effect through the corridors of government.
“DigSMART is a flagship programme for TBI Digital Academy; since it is the first of its kind to be developed and brought to three (3) African countries: starting with Ghana as a pioneer and followed by Malawi and Senegal in 2023”, he added.
The launch was participated by representatives from the Office of President, Office of the Head of Civil Service, Ministry of Finance & Economic Planning, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Food & Agriculture, Ministry of Trade & Industry and Ministry of Local & Rural Planning.
