IICD supported project: Ghana Dot Gov - Researching the potential for eGovernment services in Ghana

Countries: Ghana [GH]
Sectors: governance

Summary

Co-financed with the Ghana Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs, this research project is examining and testing concrete eGovernment systems and applications in Ghana. It will result in a demonstration portal for the Ministry, applications and content research in Akuapem South District, and a framework for further actions.

Update

Updated: 2005-02-22

The Ghana.gov portal was launched Wednesday the 9th of April, 2003 in in the capital city of Accra. The interim research report has been submitted and is now being discussed locally. In the pilot district, a major broadband service providers will construct a threeway connectivity between the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Communication and Technology, and Nsawam. The leadership of the Akuapem South district assembly has started looking for additional funds for the remote site part of the project.

Introduction

An effective flow of information from government to citizens and within government is an essential aspect of good governance in terms of effective and transparent policy formulation and implementation. Further, for citizens and civil society to have any influence on decisions that affect them, and to obtain their rights, they need to be able to connect and communicate with government via easy to use and accessible information tools.

The first phase of this project comprises two elements. The first element is the development of an attractive and functional web portal for the Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs of the Government of Ghana. This portal will be used by the Information Services Department as a means to effectively disseminate information. It is a first step towards a more coordinated approach to information sharing across government.

The second element of this project focuses on the modalities for equipping the information centres and processing information from the centres to the portal. This phase will also deal with the development of a strategy including other strategic partners and stakeholders to develop a plan of action to further develop this portal and to create linkages with other ministries, departments and agencies across government.

Objectives

The project has three objectives:

• To demonstrate how the government of Ghana could make effective use of web technologies to disseminate government information.
  Before December 13, 2002, a user-friendly and functional web portal will be established (www.ghana.gov.gh) for the Information Services Department of the Ministry of Information & Presidential Affairs. It will be used to publish information on government policies, programmes and activities. This includes some staff training as well as documenting the audience, structure, navigation, and editorial components.
• Examine the potential demand for governmental information and other e-Government services among citizens and how these can best be met at the local level.
  Using fieldwork from Nsawam in Akuapem South district, before December 1, 2002, deliver a report containing advice pertaining to the desired functions, human resources, technical infrastructure, content etc for equipping and running an electronic information processing and delivery system at the District level. The local research should matched with a brief assessment of other related eGovernment activities ongoing in Ghana.
• Advise the Ghana government on appropriate strategies and actions to be taken to extend eGovernment at the national and local levels.
  Drawing on the demonstration portal, the needs assessment and testing, plus contacts with other initiatives in Ghana, set out an initial framework to guide future work in this area.

Planned outputs

• A report regarding the function of the local information centres, the human resources required to effectively manage the centres, the content likely to be handled, the technical infrastructure required to run an electronic information processing and delivery system at the District Offices.
• A functional ‘demonstration’ web portal.
• A report containing (a) the strategy for the Ministry with respect to further developing the demonstration portal, (b) an action plan to establish wider eGovernment applications in Ghana, (c) suggestions for further involvement of IICD or other agencies in assisting the ministry to effectively communicate with citizens.
• A process of consultation and dissemination in which local stakeholders are informed about the project and can participate as necessary in formulating recommendations and actions.

Project Owner : Ghana Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs

Contact Organisation : Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs

Project Contact : Mr. Crosby D. Tekyi-Mills