The Minister for Communication and Digitalization, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has charged 117 beneficiaries of the DigSMART pilot programme to be changed champions in their organisations.
She said this at the graduation ceremony of 117 beneficiaries of the DigSMART pilot programme in Accra.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful encouraged them to provide visionary leadership, promote digital solutions within the public and civil service and serve as exemplars of technological transformation and policy implementation.
She said an additional 1000 civil service staff would be trained in the next cohort.
On his part, Dr Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, the Acting Head of the Civil Service also urged the public and civil servants to adopt a digital mentality and use technology to guide decisions, open up new opportunities, and resolve issues in the pursuit of development.
He indicated that leaders must see digital transformation as a blueprint to improve service delivery, advance efficiency, increase productivity and peak performance.
“Leaders do not have to be technology savvy but intellectually curious about technology and understand technology well enough to connect its effectiveness as its policy direction,” he stressed.
Dr Aggrey-Darkoh stated that in line with the Government’s Digital Transformation Agenda, the Office of the Head of Civil Service has digitised its practices.
“Performance Appraisal System (E-SPAR), Virtual Promotion, E-recruitment, E-records management, E-learning initiatives and the use of smart workplace have all been digitalised,” he stressed.
DigSMART programme is a collaboration between the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation through its Ghana CARES Delivery Unit and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI).
The pilot programme offered 40 leaders, 70 managers and 60 officers from six Ministries, Departments and Agencies in-depth digital skills.
For over six months, the DigSMART graduates received face-to-face group or plenary sessions at the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence (KACE) and online training covering various aspects of digital skills and knowledge necessary for effective digital leadership and transformation in governance.
Joyce Adwoa Animia Ocran, ISD
