Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC), has rolled out a nationwide information and communication technology programme, aimed at empowering managers of Community Information Centres (CIC) to understand modern software dynamics.

The four-day capacity building programme equipped 25 CIC managers with requisite knowledge and skills to enable them to effectively manage their respective centres.

The training conducted by Mr. Michael Agyei-Takyi, Principal Operations Manager, and Mrs. Victoria Dei-Kumah, Operations Manager of GIFEC, focused on Microsoft office tools, web portals, basic computer security and network integration.

Participants were drawn from CICs nationwide, in a collaborative effort by GIFEC and the various district assemblies. Five participants were from existing CICs, whilst the rest were from newly inaugurated centers (e-CICs).

Mr. Kwabena Owusu Akyeampong, GIFEC Administrator, charged the participants to come up with innovative ideas for revenue generation.

He expressed his excitement about the training and stressed on the need for CIC Managers to have a strong relationship with their respective district assemblies to aid development.

The CIC Managers, on their part, expressed their appreciation to GIFEC and the Government in particular for providing such a platform for learning and sharing of experience.

They promised to apply the knowledge acquired in their various CICs and urged GIFEC to extend the programme to other districts to help make electronic communication accessible to the nation.

The CIC is a hybrid of profit tele-centre and non-profit community resource centre, with the vision to ensure universal access to ICT applications for accelerated growth and development through effective and timely availability of information.

The purpose of the CIC is to provide business services and community development information to remote communities and prepare them for the technological era.