Vice President Bawumia Adjudged Digital Leader

By Rex Mainoo Yeboah

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has been adjudged the Digital Leader of the Year by the Ghana Information Technology & Telecom Awards (GITTA) for his dedication to leveraging technology to formalise the economy.

The Vice President has championed a number of innovations designed to make delivery of public services more efficient.

The Digital Leader of the Year Award was conferred on Vice President Bawumia at the 9th Ghana Information Technology & Telecom Awards (GITTA), in Accra last Friday.

Since the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo assumed office in January 2017, Vice President Bawumia has led the charge to formalise the largely informal Ghanaian economy, encouraging fintechs and other stakeholders in the ICT industry to come up with technological solutions to the challenges facing the nation.

This collaboration between the government and ICT firms has led to a drastic reduction in clearing and turn-around times at the country's ports through the introduction of a Paperless Port system; virtual elimination of corrupt practices at the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority; the introduction of a Digital Property Addressing System; the issuance of a National ID card; and the provision of banking services to every resident of Ghana through the innovative Mobile Payments Interoperability platform.

The push for a digitised economy has also been extended into the health sector: Ghana now has the world's largest medical drone programme, delivering critical blood supplies and other medical consumables to rural and hard to reach communities. As well, citizens can now renew their National Health Insurance from the comfort of their homes within minutes instead of hours and sometimes days. Plans are far advanced to make the country's hospitals paperless.

Business registration, procurement and justice delivery are also going digital, with efforts ongoing to digitise the entire economy in the shortest possible time.

In brief remarks at the ceremony, Vice President Bawumia lauded the role technology continues to play in national development and assured stakeholders in the technology sector of government's commitment to the broad digitisation agenda designed to produce a digitally-aware population.

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