Ghana to host ITED conference

Mr Albert Kan Dapaah, Minister of Communications and Technology, on Wednesday said Ghana stood to gain a lot from hosting the international conference on Information Technology and Economic Development (ITED) scheduled for March next year.

He said countries like Mali, Botswana, Rwanda and South Africa have benefited enormously as result of hosting other global Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) conferences.

Mr Kan Dapaah made this statement when he formally launched the third International Conference and Exhibition in ICT and Economic Development at ceremony in Accra.

The conference, which is the first to be held outside the United State of America (USA), would bring delegates from ECOWAS member countries, Zambia, Kenya, Swaziland, South Africa, Ethiopia, Canada, Ireland, India, UNESCO, World Bank and Africa Development Bank.

He said the conference would provide participants the opportunities to share and exchange their experiences as well as establish and strengthen strategic partnerships for development.

Mr Kan Dapaah said ECOWAS countries would be given the chance to identify region-specific goals and priorities as well as enhance synergies and awareness of regional ICT initiatives.

He said the three-day conference was designed to provide participants the forum to develop consensus amongst a wide cross-section of stakeholders on ICT, economic development policies and strategies.

Speakers at the forum would include Mr Kofi Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Mr Yaw Owusu, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Cyber Group based in USA and others from the Universities and the Private Corporate World.