Take advantage of country’s digital infrastructure for Innovative ICT solutions …Dr Bawumia urges innovators
The Vice President, Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has tasked solution developers and innovators to take advantage of the country’s Information Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to come out with digital solutions to address the development challenges of the country.
He said the government had invested massively in national ICT infrastructure and initiatives which had laid a solid foundation for digital transformation of the Ghanaian economy for inclusive economic development.
Speaking at the maiden Bank of Ghana (bog) ecedi Hackathon Awards Dinner in Accra on Thursday, drbawumia mentioned some of the initiatives as the National Identification and the Digital Address system, e-government services, national payment and digital financial services platforms.
“These interventions have brought tremendous improvement to the various sectors of the Ghanaian society. We have seen tremendous benefits from these initiatives including improved processes and easy access to government services, improve compliance, efficiency and transparency,” Dr Bawumia stated.
The programme organised by bog in partnership with EMTECH was on the theme “Taking the Cedi Digital.”
The ecedi Hackathon was introduced by the bog to elicit innovative payment solutions to drive financial inclusion as part of the government’s broad digitalisation agenda.
Forward Titans emerged the winner among top 10 finalists and took a cash prize of GH¢500, 000, Nokofio came second with a cash prize of GH¢300, 000 and Paycode came third and received a cash prize of GH¢200, 000 and were each presented with a plaque and a certificate. The other top 10 contestants were presented with a certificate for participating in the exercise.
The Vice President who was the guest of honour said government had shown leadership in digitalisation by implementing key initiatives to transform government machinery for efficiency, depending largely on local talents.
He said since the launch of the ecedi Hackathon, he had followed the subsequent events with keen interest, saying “We are here to witness the climax during which selected participants would be recognised for their creative prowess in the form of innovative solution based on the Central Bank Digital Currency.”
Dr Bawumia said the ecedi Hackathon demonstrated the prospects of harnessing the power of technology to address developmental problems through co-operative competition by tapping the imaginative capabilities of solution developers, innovators and user experience designers, consumer insight experts and financial service providers.
He commended the bog for the initiative and said “This feat further underscores your public leadership in the digital transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Dr Bawumia advised the contestants not to be discouraged if they failed to win any award.
“Being among the 10 finalists globally is enough proof of the quality of your innovation and capabilities. Be proud of your credentials as a graduate of the maiden bog ecedi Hackathon and go out there for greater exploits.”
The Governor of the bog, Dr Ernest Addison, said the bog received 88 Innovation Concepts Notes when it opened nominations for the programme in October 20, 2023.
He said the number was pruned to 68 after which the top 10 finalists were selected after pitching their ideas.
Dr Addison said the bog ecedi Hackathon formed part of initiatives to implement the CBDC, meant to facilitate digital payments, digital financial services delivery, and promote financial inclusion, as part of government’s broader digitalisation agenda.
The Governor said bog’s CBDC was to further push the frontiers of financial inclusiveness in the country.
The Governor commended Dr Bawumia for the leadership shown in driving the national digitalisation agenda with impactful results.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
