Standardise IT teaching

Accra, March 27, GNA - Ms Dorothy K. Gordon, Director General, Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT on Tuesday called for a standardised system of teaching Information Technology (IT) in the country to meet international benchmarks.

Ms Gordon said considering the present circumstance where there was no policy document on ICT in terms of standards, there was the tendency for some IT training centres to teach obsolete topics and award certificates which did not meet international requirements.

Speaking at a day's seminar on IT investment organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) in Accra, she said the country had become logical centre for IT training in the sub-region due to the congenial opportunity it offered and that it was appropriate that the country took steps to address issues relating to IT.

Ms Gordon noted that IT was not the only tool through which the country's developmental woes could be addressed but all the same if the country was to be transformed, there was the need for a closer collaboration between industrialists and government.

Ms Gordon said the world had now become a global village and was important that businessmen and women kept abreast with international trends so as to enable them to compete equally for opportunities with their counterparts in other parts of the world.

She admitted that the cost of training in IT at the centre was expensive but said it was appropriate for people to pay for the right services to enable them become experts in IT. Ms Gordon urged business experts especially women to take the lead by investing in IT since that could help them negotiate properly online for contracts.

Mr Carlo Hey, Director Finance and Administration, AGI, said the seminar was meant to upgrade the knowledge of members to enable them get a fair idea of the competitive nature on the international scene. Mr Hey said available statistics indicated that 80 percent of IT products sold on the World Wide Web were unnecessary and that if people were aware of trends on the market they could have made a better option. He said small businesses constituted 70 percent of all businesses in the country and was important that appropriate measures be taken in order to help them from their current situation of funding. Participants were taken through issues relating to Business inIT and key elements procurement strategy in IT.