The future is undeniably digital - Dr Ashigbe

Dr Kenneth Ashigbe, Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has said the future is undeniably digital.

He said technology was still moving at an increasingly fast pace, as every facet of life were now linked intrinsically to microchips in one way or the other.

Dr Kenneth Ashigbe was speaking at the virtual TECH TALK forum organized as part of this year’s Huawei Seed for the Future programme, in Ghana.

The Seed for Future programme is a global flagship Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, gave 50 university students in STEM the opportunity to expand their scope in ICTs whiles advocating for more female participation.

The intensive 5-days experience which was be held online, introduced students to new technologies, equip them with necessary skills to enable them to identify and harness new opportunities in ICT whiles offering them the opportunity to meet and connect with top ICT professionals in the tech space.

He said the impact of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) lies in its role as an engine for global digitalization.

He said without qualified graduates of these specialised subjects, there would be no internet, automation and no wonder surrounding the fascinating development in the field of Artificial Intelligence.

A co-panellist Mr Derrydean Dadzie, the co-founder of DreamOval Limited and CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Technology, called on the youth to take advantage of the "pregnant” digital era to develop themselves.

"The digital era is pregnant with a lot of opportunities for development," he said.

He said some of these opportunities were to provide content to meet the consumption cravings of digital citizens, work in their own time and convenience, selling anything online and acquire new knowledge for personal development.

He said the digital era has increased integration of business tools, communication and social media interaction and organizational systems and structures and it has increased complexity and transparency.

Mr Dazie said people were becoming more sophisticated in their request for uniquely gratifying experience and people were aware of their rights.

The Co-Founder called on the youth to equip themselves with the right tools and applications and they should spic their life with socio-digital tools like LinkedIn, YouTube, and Online courses.

“The leveraging on degrees is diminishing,” he said.

Kweku Essuman Quansah, a Deputy Managing Director at Huawei Ghana also admonished the participants to make use of the time they have on their hands now profitably. According to him, they should use the time to learn about things that will equip them for the future.