The National Information Technology Agency (NITA) has called for a stronger national push to move technological innovations beyond individual projects and scale them into sustainable digital solutions capable of creating jobs, improving public services and driving Ghana’s economic transformation.
The call was made at the opening of the National ICT Week celebration, held under the theme, “Innovation at Scale, Creating Opportunities Across Ghana’s Digital Ecosystem.”
NITA Director-General, Nana Yaw Amoah-Yeboah, said Ghana had demonstrated its capacity to innovate but must now focus on translating successful ideas into practical solutions that could be widely adopted, integrated and sustained.
He said the theme was particularly relevant to Ghana’s digital ambitions, stressing that innovation must deliver measurable national value rather than remain confined to isolated institutions or projects.
According to him, NITA’s mandate places the agency at the centre of efforts to establish a coordinated, integrated, secure and sustainable digital environment for the public sector.
He noted that National ICT Week was not merely a celebration of technology but an important platform for government, the private sector, academia, innovators, investors and development partners to exchange knowledge, build partnerships and identify practical solutions to national challenges.
Nana Amoah-Yeboah highlighted several initiatives being advanced by NITA, including the onboarding of a significant number of government institutions and Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies onto the Smart Workplace platform.
He said the initiative demonstrated the value of shared digital platforms in improving efficiency and reducing duplication across government.
NITA is also advancing the Ghana Electronic Document Wallet ecosystem, through stakeholder engagements aimed at developing trusted digital documents and credentials.
The agency, he added, was working on a regulatory framework for data centre and cloud services to strengthen security, reliability and accountability within Ghana’s rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.
He further identified Ghana.gov as a critical component of the country’s digital transformation agenda, saying NITA was committed to developing the platform into a more integrated gateway through which citizens could conveniently access government information and digital public services.
Looking ahead, the Director-General said NITA would intensify efforts to strengthen interoperability, cybersecurity, data security and system resilience while promoting the responsible adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing and advanced data analytics.
He, however, stressed that technology alone could not deliver Ghana’s digital transformation.
“Digital transformation is ultimately about people,” he said, emphasising the need for sustained investment in the skills and capabilities of people who would build, manage and use the country’s digital systems.
He called for a collective national effort, urging government to provide leadership, the private sector to invest and innovate, academia to contribute research and knowledge, and other stakeholders to work together to move ideas from innovation to implementation and ultimately to scale.
The Chairperson of the NITA Governing Board, Madam Estelle Akofio-Sowah, similarly stressed the need for Ghana to move successful technological ideas beyond individual projects and turn them into solutions that create opportunities and contribute to national development.
She said the pace of technological change, particularly in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital public infrastructure, cybersecurity and data-driven services, presented enormous opportunities for Ghana but also required responsible governance.
According to her, a strong digital ecosystem must be supported by effective institutions, sound policies, responsible investment, skilled professionals and secure infrastructure capable of sustaining digital solutions.
Madam Akofio-Sowah called for an inclusive digital ecosystem in which young innovators could develop, collaborate and scale their businesses.
She said the private sector, academia, government, development partners, innovators and technology professionals each had a critical role to play in transforming Ghana’s digital ambitions into practical outcomes.
She urged participants at National ICT Week to use the platform to challenge existing ideas, share knowledge, establish partnerships and develop solutions that could be implemented on a larger scale.
The Board Chairperson assured stakeholders that the NITA Governing Board remained committed to providing the strategic oversight and governance needed to strengthen the agency’s contribution to Ghana’s digital transformation.
She said Ghana’s digital economy had enormous potential, but unlocking it would require an ecosystem where innovation was encouraged, investment attracted, talent developed, partnerships strengthened and successful solutions scaled.
The National ICT Week celebration therefore seeks to deepen collaboration among key stakeholders while positioning innovation, digital skills, cybersecurity and emerging technologies as critical drivers of Ghana’s socio-economic development.
