Workers urged to acquire more knowledge (spread)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Stephen Asamoah-Boateng, has challenged Ghanaian workers to endeavour to acquire additional knowledge as a buck-up to their regular work schedules.
He said gone were the days when people concentrated on one particular occupation all their lives, adding that the Ghanaian worker needed to continually develop himself or herself in order not to be left behind in the changing world.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng made these comments in Accra yesterday at the launch of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capacity development centre. It was established by the ministry with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Institute for Communication Development (ICCD).
The centre is to provide opportunity for all government employees to acquire basic computer literacy to enable them to cope with the challenges of what is termed the Digital Age.
Mr Asamoah-Boateng said to improve upon its ICT capacity, the ministry had, within the last five years, established two important ICT centres within the Information Services Department (ISD) at its headquarters in Accra.
These, according to the minister, were the Ghana Portal, the centre which managed the official website of the Republic of Ghana (www.ghana.gov.gh) launched in 2003, and the second was the ICT capacity centre, which was launched yesterday.
For his part, the Country Director of IICD, Mr Olaf Orz, said the mission of the IICD was to assist developing countries in the use of ICT as strategic tool for sustainable development and poverty alleviation.
He said ICT was considered a tool to be used to support sector development such as education, environment, governance, health and livelihood, adding that to be sustainable, ICT development activities must respond to local demands and offer opportunities for development that were workable in the local context.
In his welcoming address, the acting Director of the ISD, Mr Samuel Asamoah, said the centre was well equipped to train the staff of the ministry and other government employees, as well as members of the public.
The chairman for the function who is the Chief Director of the National Security Council, Mr A. A. Ampong, said the provision of ICT in any sector was to reduce poverty and advised all government employees to take advantage of the centre to improve on their skills.