2.1 - Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development National Policy

The Government of Ghana has placed a strong emphasis on the role of ICT in contribut¬ing towards the country’s economy. The country’s medium term development plan cap¬tured in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I&II) Paper and the Education Strategic Plan 2003-2015 all suggest the use of ICT as a means to reaching out to the poor in Ghana. The Ghana ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4D) Policy represents the Vision for Ghana in the information age. The ICT4D Policy is aimed at addressing a number of developmental challenges facing the country as a basis for achieving a number of policy goals and objectives. The Ghana ICT4AD Policy takes into account the aspira-tions and the provisions of key socio-economic development framework documents such as the Vision 2020 - The first steps; the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS)-2002-4 and the Coordinated Programme for Economic and Social Development of Ghana (2003).

The specific objectives of the policy related to agriculture and education among others are to:

• facilitate the modernisation of the agricultural sector through deployment of ICTs to improve on its efficiency and productivity; • aid the process of the development of national human resource capacity and the nations R&D capabilities to meet the changing needs and demands of the econ-omy; • promote an improved educational system within which ICTs are widely deployed to facilitate the delivery of educational services at all levels of the educational system; • accelerate the development of women and eliminate gender inequalities in educa-tion, employment and decision making by building capacities and providing opportunities for girls and women through the deployment and exploitation of ICT.

The priority focus areas of the policy related to agriculture and education are:

• accelerated human resource development • promoting ICTs in education - The deployment and exploitation of ICTs in educa-tion • modernisation of agriculture and the development of agro-based industry • deployment and spread of ICTs in the communities • R&D, scientific and industrial research capacity development • facilitating the development of the private sector