The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Norwegian government and the government of Ghana have signed an agreement, in support of the Digital Transformation Centres (DTC) Initiative in Ghana
The new partnership with Norway, in collaboration with Cisco and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), aims to strengthen the digital skill sets of the marginalised communities in Ghana and make 14,000 citizens, across 200 centres, job-ready. The initiative mainly targets women entrepreneurs, pupils, teachers and marginalised groups. The training will help entrepreneurs who wish to develop their businesses and assist policy-makers in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes related to digital skills.
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau moderated the event, with Houlin Zhao, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, Aksel Jakobsen, state secretary of International Development for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Wendy Mars, president of Cisco's Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia region, and Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, minister of communications of Ghana contributed as speakers.
The DTC Initiative was launched by ITU in partnership with Cisco and its Country Digital Acceleration Program and Cisco Networking Academy in 2019. It operates across nine countries in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and especially tailored for people who need to learn some basic digital tools and e-services, as well as for those, who seek to enhance their basic and intermediate skills.
The new partnership with Norway will ensure that the lack of knowledge and digital skills does not become a roadblock to the creation of an all inclusive digital society and economy.
