The National Communications Authority (NCA) and the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) have reaffirmed their commitment to work together to develop cybersecurity in the country.
The two institutions led by their respective Director-Generals met on April 5, 2022, at the NCA Tower in Accra to discuss how to collaborate towards the successful collaboration of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) which was assented into law on December 29, 2020.
The directors recognised the importance of securing the Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) and ensuring a safe online experience for citizens as the adoption of internet technology in Ghana is increasing at very fast pace.
The two institutions have been collaborating in several areas since 2017 towards the development of cybersecurity in Ghana; these collaborative efforts, among others, have been recognised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Ghana was scored 86.69% in the latest Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), a major progress from previous ratings in 2017 and 2018 which were 32.6% and 43.7% respectively.
The directors thus reaffirmed their commitment to collaborate in order to improve upon this rating and ensure a safe and secure digital ecosystem in Ghana.
After successful deliberations, recommendations and suggestions, they agreed to collaborate more closely on the following critical areas and to provide each other with all the necessary assistance for the performance of their functions: hold joint discussions with various designated (CII) owners and come up with sector-specific directives to serve as guidelines for the protection of these CIIs and collaborate in the area of capacity building of the staff of both institutions to ensure that the personnel have fundamental knowledge and appreciation of cybersecurity. These capacity building projects may include exchange programmes, technical workshops, and consultations.
The rest are work together to determine a minimum certification as baseline requirements for Computer Emergency Response Team staff in both institutions, collaborate in the area of awareness creation and public education on critical national issues, technology usage, cybersecurity, cybercrime and related matters and adopt a multi-stakeholder engagement approach through partnerships to enhance stakeholder-knowledge on the law and to create a cooperative environment to support law enforcement and build capacities among various sectors.
