Politics 'stifling $100 laptop'

A lack of "big thinking" by politicians has stifled a scheme to distribute laptops to children in the developing world, a spokesman has said.

Walter Bender of One Laptop per Child (OLPC) said politicians were unwilling to commit because "change equals risk".

But, he said, there needed to be a "dramatic change" because education in many countries was "failing" children.

In an interview with the BBC, Nigeria's education minister questioned the need for laptops in poorly equipped schools.

Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachuku said: "What is the essence of introducing One Laptop per Child when they don't have seats to sit down and learn; when they don't have uniforms to go to school in, where they don't have facilities?"

"We are more interested in laying a very solid foundation for quality education which will be efficient, effective, accessible and affordable."

The previous government of Nigeria had committed to buying one million laptops.

Dr Aja-Nwachuku said he was now assessing OLPC alongside other schemes from Microsoft and Intel.

There is still a concerted misinformation campaign out there Walter Bender, OLPC

"We are asking whether this is the most critical thing to drive education."

But speaking separately to BBC News, Professor Bender said: "We think that change has to be dramatic."

"You've got to be big, you've got to be bold. And what has happened is that there has been an effort to say 'don't take any risks - just do something small, something incremental'."

"It feels safe but by definition what you are ensuring is that nothing happens."

Winds of change

OLPC was started in 2002 by Nicholas Negroponte, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The laptops have been designed to cope with harsh conditions

It aims to put thousands of low-cost laptops, known as the XO, in the hands of children around the world.

The machines are planned to cost $100 and have been especially designed for use in remote and harsh environments where there is little access to electricity or the internet.

But getting the project off the ground has proved difficult.

Professor Negroponte has had high profile run-ins with major technology firms.

He told an audience at a Linux event: "if I am annoying Microsoft and Intel then I figure I am doing something right."

Microsoft head Bill Gates had questioned the XOs design, particularly the lack of hard drive and its "tiny screen".

But recently, the firm announced that it was working on a version of Windows XP that would run on the pared down machines.

The price will come down as the numbers go up. It will take time but it will happen Walter Bender

"We are spending a non-trivial amount of money," Microsoft's Will Poole told Reuters.

Earlier this year, Professor Negroponte also accused Intel of selling its own cut-price laptop - the Classmate - below cost price to drive him out of markets. He said that Intel "should be ashamed of itself" and said its tactics had hurt his mission "enormously".

Within weeks it was announced that Intel had joined the board of OLPC amid speculation that the firm was unhappy about the XO using a processor from its main rival AMD.

'Small thinking'

Although these episodes now appear to be behind OLPC, Professor Bender said there was still an "aggressive" effort to undermine the charity.

"There is still a concerted misinformation campaign out there," he said.

Mr Bender said he would not speculate on who was behind the alleged campaign.

"Wherever it is coming from, it exists," he told BBC News.

But he said the main problem for OLPC was dealing with conservative politicians.

"Change equals risk especially for politicians. And we are certainly advocating change because the [education] system is failing these children," he said.

"It has not been that processor versus that processor or that operating system versus that operating system - it's been small thinking versus big thinking. That's really the issue," he said.

Sales target

Originally, the laptops were to be sold to governments in lots of one million for $100 apiece.

Over time, however, the project has dropped the minimum number of machines that can be ordered, leading some to speculate that governments were not buying into the scheme.

Factfile: XO laptop

The project also recently launched an initiative to allow citizens of North America to buy two machines at a time; one for themselves and one for a child in a developing country.

But Mr Bender said the shift was because of a better understanding of how to distribute smaller numbers cheaply and effectively, rather than a lack of orders.

"Part of it was our understanding of how the supply chain was going to work and having enough flexibility in the supply chain to make it work with a small number," he said.

"The big numbers were really about how you get this thing started not how you make it work in the long term.

"That was always going to be about supporting any good idea that comes along. And we've been able to get it started without the big top down numbers so we are off and running."

Developing tool

Since the scheme was first announced in 2002 there have been reports of several countries signing up to it.

Both Nigeria and Libya were reported to have ordered more than one million laptops.

Tests of the Xo are going on around the world

Other countries including Thailand and Pakistan had also placed orders, according to reports.

But recently, OLPC revealed it had just taken its first order for 100,000 of the machines, placed by the government of Uruguay.

"Uruguay is first then it will be Peru, Mexico, Ethiopia then we are going to be doing stuff in Haiti, Rwanda and Mongolia," said Mr Bender.

In addition, he said, OLPC had done a deal with Birmingham, Alabama, in the US, to provide the laptop for schools in the city.

"The numbers of countries where we have trials set up is also increasing," he said.

Tests were also going on in the Solomon Islands, Nepal and India, a country that had previously shunned the scheme.

The Indian Ministry of Education had previously dismissed the laptop as "pedagogically suspect", whilst the Education Secretary Sudeep Banerjee said the country needed "classrooms and teachers more urgently than fancy tools".

Tipping point

The first machines will cost almost double the $100 originally planned.

The high price has been blamed on the increasing cost of the raw materials for the components inside the XO. Each machine currently costs $188.

"The price will come down as the numbers go up. It will take time but it will happen," said Mr Bender.

The manufacturer of the laptop - Quanta - recently revealed it had started mass production of the machines, after a number of delays.

Previously, OLPC had said it needed three million orders to make production feasible.

Professor Negroponte said it was an important milestone that had been reached despite "all the naysayers".

"We're not turning back - we have passed the point of no return," said Mr Bender. "It is happening."

Ghana Association of Software & IT Services launch

 

GASSCOM to promote the growth of information technology services and business process outsourcing in Ghana

Anybody with the misfortune to need help or advice from a public utility, government agency, hospital, airline or even some big businesses in Ghana will know the frustrations, delay, expensive time wasting leading to annoyance of the frequently proffered expression 'go and come' or I'm working on it.'

In more sophisticated economies where the consumer is 'king' and doesn't hesitate to point out that 'it's me who's paying your salary,' more and more organisations outsource their front office services, and other operations, to a contact centre where customers can be accorded due time and diligence by trained staff who can answer queries at a computer keystroke. This is designed to improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, diversify corporate risk in the event of a disaster and minimise bureaucracy.

To promote the growth of business process outsourcing (BPO) as a major business opportunity, a number of private sector information technology organisations have come together to form the Ghana Association of Software and IT Services (GASSCON)

The Association, which is supported by the World Bank, was launched on 5 November in the presence of its founders by Ghana's Minister of Communications, the Hon Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim.

Ceremony Chairman, academic Kofi Bentil, described Ghana business as 'strong on talk but slow to act.' Meanwhile, BPO companies from India including HCL, realising that they were losing the competitive advantage in their own territory, were already migrating to and investing in Ghana.

World Bank representative, Mavis Ampah, recounted that she had just returned from a fact finding visit to Kigali in Rwanda where she was astonished at the speed of BPO development. There was a determined push by the Rwandan government to create jobs in the sector fast and they were marketing themselves much more effectively than Ghana to potential customers in the outside world.

CEO of Persol Systems and founder member of GASSCON, Michael Quarshie explained that a significant factor inhibiting BPO development in Ghana was the high cost of workspace as well as bandwidth. Drawing comparisons with America where many organisations outsource to developing countries including the Phillipines and China, Mr Quarshie said that the cost of bandwidth in Ghana was $4,200 compared with $300 for the same bandwidth in America. He went on to say that the remit of GASSCOM was to act as a catalyst to encourage and guide the industry.

In his keynote speech, the Minister of Communications said that his Ministry, through the Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) Secretariat, anticipated that the sector, currently employing around 2,500 was anticipated to grow to 40,000 generating about $750m in foreign currency earnings over the next five years, with each job within the industry likely to generate employment opportunities for a further four people in support. The Ministry was already taking action to provide office space at the Technology Park in Tema at modest cost and a recent cut in bandwidth costs from $7,000 to $4,200 was likely to be followed by further cuts in the future. The Minister urged BPO companies to market themselves, both collectively and individually, more powerfully to potential customers using high quality brochures containing irrefutable information and facts.

After ITES director, Kofi Adu-Gyan had introduced the interim executive committee of GASSCOM, a vote of thanks was proposed by Kofi Hayford, CEO of e-Services who underlined the need for Ghanaian companies to grasp this major opportunity whilst the window of availability remained open.

 

Baah-Wiredu explains excise duty on airtime calls

Mr. Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, has explained that the proposal in the 2008 Budget Statement, which slapped excise duty on airtime on mobile phone calls, would rather reduce the cost of making calls.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the Minister, who is also NPP MP for Asante Akim North, said the increasing number of mobile phones that were smuggled into the country by mobile phone dealers as well as individuals informed the decision.

He said statistics obtained from the mobile phone companies and the National Communications Authority (NCA) showed that there are about seven million mobile phones in the country.

"However, records of taxes paid at the port of entry from the Immigration Service and the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) show that just about one million mobile phones have been brought into the country."

He described the practice where people continuously brought mobile phones into the country without paying the appropriate tax as unacceptable, since the nation lost billions of cedis in the process.

Government decided to abolish import duty and import VAT on all mobile phone handsets and introduced excise duty on airtime.

Mr Baah-Wiredu explained that if the current taxes on mobile phones were removed as proposed in the 2008 budget, the cost of the product as well as the charges on airtime by the various networks would drop significantly.

"Currently, the networks charge about 14 Ghana pesewas per minute on each call, as per the tax charges, making 98 million Ghana Cedis per minute which is the result of the number of mobile phones multiplied by the cost per minute.

"If we cancel the tax on mobile phone imports and the total number of handsets grows to eight million we would reduce the cost per minute to 12.5 Gp. If the total number of handsets goes up to about nine million, the cost per minute to end-users would drop further to 10 Gp. The same would be when the total number of handsets rises to 10 million and the cost of air-time per minute would also drop to 9.8 Gp."

Reacting to network providers' concern that they were not contacted or involved in arriving at the proposal, Mr Baah-Wiredu said adverts and invitations were sent out for stakeholders to make their input, but not all of them made the effort to contribute to the discussions and contributions.

"It is important that when adverts are put out for stakeholders to make their contributions, they are taken seriously since it would help government in shaping development approaches," he added.


Source: GNA

No time to wait

Video blogs are an interesting and engaging method of presenting information, especially in areas with low levels of literacy.

The availability of broadband internet has increased rapidly in developing countries in the last few years, but it is still almost exclusively limited to users in the larger towns and cities. Because of this, most organizations working with rural communities use simple web 2.0 tools, such as blogs, to present information, usually in text form. It might seem strange then to make videos, which are typically very large files that take a long time to download, for farmers who might not even have a computer. But the team at Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS) are convinced that it is important to start using this technology now.

'At the moment we are still trying to catch up with the western world,' explains Prince Deh, assistant country coordinator at GINKS. 'If we wait until everyone has broadband access in Africa that might take another five years, at least. By that time, there may be web 3.0 or even web 4.0. How would we catch up then? We need to act now to promote the use of technology of all kinds in Africa, especially in rural areas.'

GINKS produces video blogs, also known as vlogs, on subjects that are relevant to the communities they work with in rural Ghana. One particularly popular video blog explained how farmers can use their mobile phones to get market information. Despite the poor connectivity among their target audience the video blogs have proven to be more popular than the more traditional, static pages of the GINKS website, which received just under 500 visits since January 2007, compared with nearly 900 users visiting the blog site since it began in April.

For Deh, it is easy to explain the success of the video blogs. 'Videos are powerful. If you watch someone speaking you understand much more than when you just read about it. And video blogs can still be used by people who have difficulties reading. Plus they are cheap to make, it's easy and doesn't take too long to learn the process. Once you go through the process it doesn't take more than a day to learn how to produce a video blog.'

Document experience

Another advantage of putting videos on the web is that they can be distributed to a large potential audience at low cost. But Prince Deh admits he is sometimes frustrated that the videos don't reach their main target group – rural farmers. At the moment the members of the GINKS team are promoting video blogging primarily to other NGOs and government institutions. 'We've had very good feedback from several organizations and government ministries who have seen the videos and want to know more, and especially how we can reach more people,' says Deh.

Although progress so far has been slow, the Ghanaian government is now working to improve internet access across the country. There has also been increased investments in rehabilitating and refurbishing old rural communication centres, which should also help in opening up the GINKS network and their series of video blogs, to farming communities. As the technology becomes more affordable, Deh hopes that farmers will be able to produce their own video blogs.

The only means of communication at the moment in rural areas is through mobile phones, so most people save their money to buy one. Very few of these phones can record videos, but that will change in the near future. Then farmers would have almost all the resources they need to produce their own video blogs. They could then also access an old PC they and use free editing software, available from the web. We're still talking some years away,' he adds, 'but we have already introduced the idea to farmers, and many of them are very interested. They want to document their experiences and make them available to others. The big advantage too is that people don't even have to be able to read and write to make a video blog.'

The team at GINKS ensure that they keep up to date with the latest developments, following technical improvements until they find something else they can use in their work. In the meantime, they are continuing to promote video blogging to other organizations as a way to reach rural communities.

http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/feature_articles/no_time_to_wait

Guinness Opens Advanced ICT Studies

The Hon. Minister of Trade, Industry and PSI, Joe Baidoo-Ansah has on behalf of President J. A. Kufuor, commissioned the new Osei Tutu II Institute for Advanced ICT Studies, situated at the Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited's (GGBL) Ahinsan Brewery in Kumasi.

The institute, which will offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in ICT and related studies, was established by Heineken International and the Dutch government in collaboration with Diageo/GGBL.

The Managing Director of GGBL, Mr Seni Adetu said from 2002 until the middle of 2003 research was carried out in Ghana to investigate the level of ICT programmes and the need for additional applied ICT education.

The result was the need to significantly improve both the knowledge base and the ICT course content in Ghana.

Mr Seni Adetu said to ensure that the institute compete favourably with the best in the world, a section of the Brewery office has been converted into an ultra-modern complex with ample lecture room space and state-of-the-art facilities.

He commended the Government of Ghana, for creating an enabling environment for investment. Additionally, he thanked Otumfuo Osei-Tutu II, Asantehene, for his guidance and continued support to GGBL.

The President of Heineken, Africa and Middle East Region, Tom de Man thanked all the organizations and individuals who have worked tirelessly and contributed in cash and kind to making the project a reality.

He specifically thanked Nurfic, a Dutch Governmental Organization, for their donation of 1.5m euros, Diageo, Heineken, Unilever for their commitment of 70,000 euros each per annum over the next 5 years, and Coca-Cola and Barclays for their sponsorship.

Prof. Martin Looijen, Rector of the institute, in a short speech stated that the mission of the college is to educate students from Ghana and other African countries to become professionals in ICT with the prescribed capabilities and attitudes required in developing applying and maintaining ICT related problems in industry and business.

He acknowledged the fact that the establishment is the first postgraduate ICT institute in Africa, and hoped students from other neighbouring countries would be encouraged to patronize its services.

He confirmed that the institute was accredited by the Ghana Accreditation Board and fully endorsed by the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

The President, represented by the Hon Minister of Trade and Industry and PSI, Mr Joe Baidoo-Ansah, took the opportunity to commend GGBL for its achievements and continuous contribution to the socio-economic development of Ghana.

 Source/Credits: Daily Guide

FFP to promote indigenous arts on Internet

 The Foundation of Female Journalists (FFP) on Saturday organised its "2007 Street Art Festival" aimed at improving the artistic and creative industry in the country. The programme, which was under the theme; "Artists on the Internet, Build Your Image" was this year focus on encouraging artists to use the Internet to improve their packaging and marketing.

Ms Mardey Ohui Ofei, President for FFP said using the internet to improve creative works and market Ghanaian artistry had become necessary in today's world of information technology in order to compete effectively in the globe.

She said the programme was to encourage, especially women and young people to project their various skills and creativity in arts and to assist the participants to develop their profiles on the internet. Ms Ohui said the Ghanaian artistic industry had, over the years been challenged with weak writings which had accounted for poor packaging and marketing of the arts.

She said there was also the need for artists to explore other opportunities within the industry such as photography, videography and the use of arts for social work instead of confining themselves to only painting.

Ms Patience Dzormeku, Cooridnator for the programme also expressed worry on the limited number of females in the industry, saying lack of self-confidence was preventing more women from bringing out their creativity.

She said the FFP was therefore, providing websites that would have profiles of all artists in order to have a common platform for promotion of creative arts.

Source: GNA

Ghana 2008 budget- ICT highlights

1.Excise Tax on Mobile Phone Airtime
Government has decided to abolish import duty and import VAT on all mobile phones imported into the country and introduced a more effective means of taxing mobile phone usage. Consequently, Government proposes to impose a specific excise duty per minute of airtime use.

2. National Switch and Biometric Smartcard Project
The Bank of Ghana is establishing a National Switch, the E-ZWICH, to allow the establishment of a common platform for all payments transactions, both on-line and off-line, in the country. Associated with the E-ZWICH is a biometric smartcard that eliminates the need to have basic literacy and numeracy to operate a bank account since it relies on the identification features of finger prints. The E-ZWICH is a major vehicle for financial inclusion. The smartcard can also be used for payment of wages to workers on the government payroll. The use of the biometric identification system will remove ghost workers on the public payroll. The National Switch and smartcard project would serve as the vehicle to transform Ghana from a predominantly cash economy to one dominated by electronic transactions using modern state of the art technology.

3. the National Communication Authority (NCA) will in the course of the year, issue 3G mobile license
4. Under Govt Assisted PC Programme  (GAPP), it is projected that 40,000 more PCs will be supplied to beneficiaries.

5. NCA to develop modalities for allocation of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX)

6. A number of institutions including Domain Name Registry will be set up in this regard.


see Ministry of Communication sector  below :
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
658. Mr. Speaker, MOC is facilitating the vision of government to develop policies and programmes to transform Ghana into a
country with sufficient, efficient, cost effective and accessible  communications infrastructure to propel appropriate technological
applications and innovations to enhance socio-economic development

Performance in 2007
659. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry in pursuant of its mandate monitored the increase in telephone penetration from 20 per cent in 2006 to
30 per cent in 2007 as planned. It also pursued the privatisation of Ghana Telecom (GT) which is in progress and that of WESTEL
which is completed.
National Fibre Communications Backbone Infrastructure
660. Mr. Speaker, to complement the efforts of the private sector in the extension of affordable and efficient connectivity solutions, the
Ministry pursued the development of the National Fibre Communications Backbone Infrastructure network to provide open
access broadband connectivity.
661. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry under the Backbone Infrastructure
Network undertook survey and design of the various sites, procured and delivered equipment, constructed and commissioned
Achimota distribution site, commenced laying of pipes for Buipe-Tamale, Akosombo-Ho and Kumasi-Obuasi and laid over 492 km
of fibre cable.
A Brighter Future
186
Promotion of Competitive Telecom Market
662. Mr. Speaker, to promote the deployment of affordable wireless broadband access, the National Communications Authority (NCA)
commenced the development of modalities for allocation of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX) service
deployment to benefit all the major telecom sector players. This intervention is aimed at encouraging the private telecom service
providers to further plan their infrastructure deployment and invest in a strategic manner and also improve access and quality
of service. In response to this intervention by the NCA, all the telecom sector players have launched challenging expansion
programmes.
The eGhana Project
663. Mr. Speaker, under the eGhana project the Ministry developed certification and standardization procedures related to human
resource capacity in Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES). It also developed investment promotion and support
mechanisms to attract and retain investors in Information Communication Technology (ICT) and ITES businesses.
IT/IM Career Classification
664. Mr. Speaker, MOC with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has commenced the
consultation process for the development of a Scheme of Service to define job content, career paths and appropriate remuneration
packages for professional ICT/IM personnel. This is to facilitate their engagement in the civil/public service.
A Brighter Future
187
Ghana Investment Fund for Telecommunications (GIFTEL)
665. Mr. Speaker, GIFTEL, set up to facilitate the extension of communications services to underserved and unserved areas
through the provision of common facilities has undertook the common telecom tower service facility at Nandom (U/West) which
is now offering transmission coverage to over 10 towns including Lambushie, Boe, Burutu, Piiri, Basabli, Yipele, Naapal, Pofiem,
Napaali, and Gengenkpe. A similar facility at Fetentaa is also serving over 12 towns in the locality and another at the towers at
Bibiaraneha and Atuna have also been completed.

Community Information Centres (CICs)
666. Mr. Speaker, in furtherance of the commitment of the Ministry to use the medium of ICT to promote an all-inclusive information
and knowledge society to benefit under served and rural areas, the CIC concept has been developed. To date 92 CICs out of the
projected 230 CICs have been constructed. Ghana Post has upgraded over 50 Postal Agencies to Post Offices and will connect
those centres to ICT to make them learning centres in addition to providing universal postal services.
Government Assisted PC Programme (GAPP)
667. Mr. Speaker, GAPP under the iAdvance Computer4All project has sold 10,000 units of computers to the public, private and
educational institutions and individuals to increase the availability and usage of computers in the country. It was also intended to
encourage local entrepreneurial assembling of personal computers.
A Brighter Future
188
Broadband4U
668. Mr. Speaker, GT has extended broadband Internet services using copper to Kumasi and its environs, Obuasi, Cape Coast,
Akosombo, Koforidua, Gbawe, Tamale, Bolgatanga, Wa, Ho, Takoradi and Tarkwa. Wireless technology has been used to
provide additional broadband internet capacity for Labone, Spintex Area and Weija in the Greater Accra area.
669. Mr. Speaker, under the Postal and Courier Services Regulatory
Commission (PCSRC) the policies, guidelines, rules and regulations for carrying out postal and courier business were drafted and
reviewed with stakeholder participation. Also 50 firms operating postal/courier services have been registered under the regulatory
framework to ensure high-level performance. Ghana Post is also being monitored in its usage of exclusive license for the provision
of reserved postal services in Ghana which is aimed at ensuring that basic postal services are provided at prices, which are
affordable for all segments of the population.

670. Mr. Speaker, in addition, education exercises to encourage all the identified courier companies to regularise their operations has
been undertaken. The provision of inputs to facilitate the clear definition of National Postal Policy, modernize and develop the
postal sector, ensure universal access to postal services, promote new service development and strengthen the role of the postal
sector as an instrument of economic and social development in the era of ICT has been pursued.

ICT Business Incubator
671. Mr. Speaker, the centre supported the establishment of WiceNet Ghana Limited to provide through the primary medium of
A Brighter Future
189
television, data, video and audio/voice services. Currently, the company has deployed to 4 hotels, namely; La Palm Royal Beach,
Cocoa Beach Hotel, Shangri La Hotel and the Dutch Hotel. Tripod Global Ventures (Jobweb), Makana Technologies Limited and IDZ
Ghana Limited to provide online recruitment, develop a vehicle tracking system and operate an online advertising/events listing
media website, respectively has been established.

672. Mr. Speaker, CBB Ghana Limited has developed a product tracking, scanning and identification of objects using Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) with the support of the centre. Real IT Solutions a tenant-company of the GMIC, has also
developed science educational software being tested with support from the centre.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Training
673. Mr. Speaker, Ministry in collaboration with the Ghana
Telecommunications University College trained 30 Call Centre and Data Entry Clerks. The Ministry also collaborated with the Ministry
of Information and National Orientation (MINO) and the Ghana Investment Fund for Telecommunications (GIFTEL) in the
provision of training of 22 information officers from various districts under the Community Information Centre initiative.
Currently, over 200 Call Centre and Data Entry operators have received training.

Science and Technology Park
674. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry is facilitating the establishment of a Science and Technology Park at the Institute of Industrial
Research (IIR) to support emerging technologies. MOC formulated a master Plan for the park, collected and compiled
data relevant to science and technology, economics, and
A Brighter Future
190
infrastructure in Ghana and submitted the second draft report in June. It is currently, updating the final draft to ensure
commencement of actual implementation by the close of 2007.

Outlook for 2008
675. Mr. Speaker, MOC will pursue the policy to develop nationwide communications and technology infrastructure backbone and
services to ensure that the first phase of the national fibre optic infrastructure backbone project covering the laying of fibre optic
cable to Tamale, which is to be completed by Huawei Technologies by December 2007 will become functional.

676. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry will also facilitate the operationalisation and the setting up of the National Fibre Backbone Company
Limited to help in the management of the national fibre backbone facility as a commercially viable business. It will further pursue
the actualisation of the second phase of the fibre backbone and egovernment project which will go beyond Tamale to the
northernmost borders.
677. Mr. Speaker, the output from the delivery of this project should see the attainment of the major objective of ensuring the
provision of adequate and affordable bandwidth throughout the country under an open access management model to benefit the
wider private sector.
678. Mr. Speaker, GIFTEL will construct additional common masts facilities in 29 towns. It is estimated that a total of 44 common
telecommunications facilities will be provided across the country. The Ministry in collaboration with the Ministries of Information and
National Orientation, Local Government, Rural Development and Environment and the District Assemblies will sustain the CIC
A Brighter Future
191
Programme. Under GAPP, it is projected that 40,000 more PCs will be supplied to beneficiaries.

Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMA)
679. Mr. Speaker, SADIS 2nd Generation equipment installed at the Accra Airport office will facilitate the reading of wind speed and
direction as well as temperature at different levels in the atmosphere, significant weather charts and aerodrome forecasts
and warnings for airports around the world.

Business Process Outsourcing training (BPO training)
680. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry in collaboration with the BPO Training outfit will train additional 300 Centre and Data Entry operators.
The outfit will also continue with its collaboration with the Ghana Telecommunications University College.

681. Mr. Speaker, Tripod Global Ventures, IDZ Ghana Limited and CBB Business Limited will start commercialization of their products.
These companies would move from staff strength of 3 each to approximately 6 each.


Technology Park
682. Mr. Speaker, the Technology Park Project to be located within the Free Zone enclave is to house ICT/IT enabled companies. The
Request For Proposals (RFP) from the short listed companies will be sought to facilitate the commencement of work.

eGhana
683. Mr. Speaker, in the area of e-governance that is aimed at employing e-government applications to contribute to improved
efficiency and transparency of Government functions, the Ministry
A Brighter Future
192
will procure the services of an international consultant to conclude feasibility studies on the PPP approach for the provision of egovernment
services in IRS and VAT service, DVLA, RGD and LTR. It is expected that the IRS nationwide digitalisation will enhance
the collection of both individual and cooperate taxes.

684. In addition, a government-wide network will be installed to connect about 64 different MDAs to enable better sharing of
information as well as improve coordination across government agencies. A data centre and national portal will be established
which will facilitate generation of revenue through levy of transaction fees and training in the use of these facilities will be
provided to CIOs, Legislators, the Judiciary, civil servants and technical staff who will manage the facilities.

685. Mr. Speaker, the passage of the National Information Technology
Agency (NITA) bill in due course will give the needed legal backing to implement a number of revenue generation initiatives
contained in the Electronic Transactions Bill. A number of institutions including Domain Name Registry will be set up in this
regard.

Government Network (GovNet)
686. Mr. Speaker, GICTeD will design and develop a Government Network called GovNet to connect 22 Ministries and 42 Agencies
to support transparent communication. This will improve access to government services by citizens, businesses and other
governmental agencies.

Interoperability of Networks
687. Mr. Speaker, GICTeD will ensure that all networks talk to each other and ensure cohesive systems in content management,
A Brighter Future
193
electronic messaging and collaboration, documents and record management, correspondence management, and workflow
management that will be deployed under the government gateway project with the support of the MINO. This will lead to
the systematic development of MDAs information and transaction activities online in a progressive and competitive manner. GICTeD
will effect the interoperation of networks under the eGhana.

688. Mr. Speaker, to make improved telecommunication technology available to local users, the National Communication Authority
(NCA) will in the course of the year, issue 3G mobile licenses.
689. Mr. Speaker, for the implementation of the above activities, an amount of GH¢18,518,487 has been allocated. Out of this, GOG
is GH¢5,815,274, IGF is GH¢644,000, Donor is GH¢9,059,213 and HIPC is GH¢3,000,000.

Wal-Mart Sells $199 Linux Computer

  Wal-Mart Carries $199 Computer With Free Linux Operating System in Stores and Online

NEW YORK (AP) -- Linux, the free operating system that's a perpetual underdog in the desktop market, is showing up in computers in Wal-Mart stores this week for the first time.

About 600 Wal-Mart stores will carry the $199 Linux-powered "Green gPC" made by Everex of Taiwan, Wal-Mart said. It was available online on Wednesday.

A comparable Everex PC that comes with Windows Vista Home Basic and more memory costs $99 more, or $298, partly because the manufacturer has to pay Microsoft Corp. for a software license. Both computers come with keyboard, mouse, and speakers, but no monitor.

Linux is maintained and developed by individuals and companies around the world volunteering on an "open source" basis, meaning that everyone has access to the software's blueprints.

Linux is in widespread use in server computers, particularly servers that host Web sites. But it hasn't yet made a dent in the desktop market. Surveys usually put its share of that market around 1 percent, far behind Windows and Apple Inc.'s OS X.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien said it is stocking the gPC in about one in eight stores to test the demand for an open-source product.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. sold Linux computers online -- but not in stores -- starting in 2002 at prices as low as $199. Computers from several manufacturers were available for several years but they didn't find much of a market, and they're gone now.

The variant of Linux on the gPC is called gOS and is derived from the popular Ubuntu variant. It's heavily oriented toward Google's Web sites and online applications, like YouTube, Gmail and the company's word processing program, all of which can be used only when the computer is connected to a broadband line.

Google's push into desktop applications is relatively new, and gOS, the Los Angeles-based startup behind the software, sees it as crucial in overcoming consumers' reluctance to leave the familiar Windows environment.

"We feel the timing is right for open source because of that," said gOS founder David Liu. The company has fewer than 10 people on staff but gets help from volunteers in the Linux community.

Whether value-minded shoppers who would be enticed by a $199 PC will also be interested in making the jump to Linux remains to be seen. The operating system isn't known for ease of use and mainly attracts the tech-savvy, though Liu said his aim was to make the gPC something his mother could use.

The gPC has a low-end processor from VIA Technologies, plus 512 megabytes of internal memory, an 80-gigabyte hard drive and a combination DVD drive and CD burner.

Everex says the processor is very energy efficient, meriting the "Green" part of the name.

http://www.thinkgos.com

http://www.everex.com

http://www.walmart.com

AP
Wednesday October 31, 4:27 pm ET
By Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer

GT relocates 620 payphones across the country

A total of 620 Ghana Telecom (GT) payphones has been relocated due to the low patronage in their current locations and general improvement in mobile telephony service in the urban areas. Dr. Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Minister of Communications, who made the point in an answer to a question in the House, said the relocation was done between 2006 and 2007.

He was responding to a question by Mr. Kwame Owusu Frimpong, NDC-Ahafo North on what plans the Ministry of Communications has to put the numerous unused payphones dotted around the cities and big towns into effective use in the face of hectic competition from myriad cell phone operators.

Industry experts who spoke to the Ghana News Agency said the use of mobile phones versus fixed lines was in a serious dilemma, especially with a heavy burden on government to ensure that an increasing number of the population get access to not only fixed lines, but to the internet as well.

The Minister did not give the geographical redistribution, but said 272 payphones had been relocated within the Greater Accra Region, 121 in Ashanti, 77 in Western and 19 in the Eastern Regions.

He said 60 payphones have been relocated in the Central Region and 27 in the Brong Ahafo while the Volta, Northern and Upper East Regions have 30, 8 and 6 respectively. None of the relocations had taken place in the Upper West Region.

This brought Mr Joseph Yieleh Chireh, NDC-Wa West to his feet to question the Minister why none of the payphones had been relocated in his region. He therefore asked what criteria were used in determining towns and villages that should benefit from the relocation.

To this the Minister said GT had a programme in place and expressed the hope that Upper West would be receiving some payphones in the near future.

Mr Mahama Ayariga, NDC-Bawku Central expressed concern about the trend in the relocation and urged the Ministry to ensure that the redistribution of the payphones should be done more across regions than within borders, "especially to regions and areas where they are most needed and where the populations may not have easy access to mobile phones."

On when telephone facilities would be extended to the newly created Ga East District Capital of Abokobi/Pantang and the surroundings, Mr Ntim said GSM services are available in the two areas, but will be extended to be used to provide fixed cellular terminals to prospective customers.

He noted that access to internet connectivity can be obtained through the fixed cellular terminals for the people to use.

The Minister said GT currently does not cover Oyarifa, but it intends to extend coverage there by the second quarter of 2008, adding that coverage in the Ga East is expected to improve when the new GSM site at Oyarifa is completed.

He said MTN already has full coverage in Pantang and with their current programme surrounding towns will be covered by the end of the year. Dr Ntim said the Worawora Community Information Centre will be commissioned soon, saying the first phase of a physical infrastructure of a Local Area Network (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN) has been completed.

"In addition, a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) has been installed for the WAN under the Ghana/Indian government collaboration.

He said even though the centre is operational, the second phase requires the provision of fax machines, Television, printers and computers, saying: "the Ministry will make arrangements with the local authorities to formally commission the centre in the coming weeks.

Dr Ntim said Bogoso and Prestea already have fixed telephone facilities, when the question by Mr Albert Kwaku Obbin, NDC- Huni Valey spoke to the contrary. He explained that Aboso and Huni Valley, as well as the people of Juabeso, would get GT fixed land services by the first and second quarters of 2008.

Source: GNA

ICT To Make Financial Services Efficient - Deputy Minister

Government is facilitating ICT-enabled services by laying optic fibre around the country to ensure that financial services are made reliable and effective.
     
This is expected to make companies and businesses hook unto the information super highway.
     
Deputy Minister for Communications, Frederick Ansah Opare said this at the end of an international workshop for the implementation of International Express Money Orders via the International Financial Service (IFS) Network in Accra yesterday.
    
The three-day workshop hosted by the Ghana Post drew participants from Ghana, France, Nigeria, South Africa and The Gambia.
    
It was in line with a resolution of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) in Bucharest, which emphasizes orientation among member countries concerning the development of regional projects, particularly the development of International Express Money Transfer Services (IEMO) of Postal Organizations.   
     
The Deputy Minister noted that with lack of ICT infrastructure in Africa, Universal Postal Unions needed to set up more regional technical centres to provide support for African Postal Administration in establishing ICT centres to train more people to acquire the needed ICT capabilities of African countries.
     
He said with most human resource base destroyed in some African countries such as Liberia and Sierra Leone, it was necessary that ECOWAS gave them the necessary support in terms of training and provision of infrastructure to enable them to make headway in introducing technology in their postal operations.
     
Mr Opare said the ministry would put in place strategies that would make the implementation of the International Express Order and all other Postal Financial Systems workable.
     
Mr Kofi Duah Adonteng, Managing Director, Ghana Post, expressed the hope that financial services would enable the company to resume its proper position in the remittance business. He said Ghana Post had several branches countrywide and could therefore perform better in the remittance services.
     
A communiqué issued at the end of the workshop among other things agreed to admit South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda as full members.

GNA

DiData buys African communications firm

SE-listed ICT firm Dimension Data has bought Accelon, an African communications services company operating in Nigeria and Ghana, for an undisclosed amount, it said on Thursday.

Accelon offers broadband services, ranging from internet access to data and voice communication solutions to large enterprises, government and public sector agencies.

"The Accelon acquisition has been structured in line with Dimension Data�€™s and Internet Solutions' African strategy of focusing on local empowerment through local ownership. The acquisition also aligns to Dimension Data's and Internet Solutions' strategic intent of increasing our presence, and our solutions and services offerings, in Sub-Saharan Africa," Dimension Data Middle East & Africa CEO Allan Cawood commented.

The existing management team would be joined by Vernon van Rooyen who has been appointed COO. He joins Accelon from Internet Solutions, a division of Dimension Data.

"The demand for telecommunications in West Africa is increasing rapidly and this demand from a volume perspective is accompanied by an increasing demand for quality telecommunications solutions and services," GM for Internet Solutions Jacques Rautenbach said.

The acquisition is subject to the finalisation of regulatory requirements.

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article.php?a_id=120357

Computers made in Ghana

Omatek Ventures Limited, an ICT company has started manufacturing computers, casing and speakers in Ghana. It is the second to be built in the West Africa sub-region after the one in Nigeria.

It is a pioneer in the field and the only factory in Africa that produces computers, casings and speakers from completely-knock-down components.

The factory which is currently operating at 25 percent capacity utilization would roll out 48,000 fully-built PCs, 120,000 casings and 120,000 speakers per annum.

Mrs. Florence Seriki, Managing Director of Omatek Ventures Limited (OVL), who took media personnel round the factory said the company was producing Omatek brand of computers ranging from desktops, notebooks and servers for both local and foreign markets.

She said the company has the capacity to produce casings and speakers of different forms and sizes for other local and foreign brand builders.

She said the brand casings could be customized to suit various corporate clients and any other organization that may require such value added services of having their company's logo or names printed on them.

Mrs. Siriki used the occasion to introduce the Omatek smallest 8 and 10 inch computer notebooks onto the Ghanaian market.

She said the two computer notebooks were built specifically with the youth both at tertiary and secondary schools and the Ghanaian environment in mind.

She said the new releases were the most current classic notebook that not only replaced the tablet notebook but its lightness was incomparable with any notebook. She said they are assembled locally and have added to the technology transfer required for the country's ICT development.

source : accra mail

Sambus Company challenges local businesses

Sambus Company Limited, a wholly-owned Ghanaian IT firm, has challenged businesses in the country to adopt the use of smart technologies such as Geographical Information System and Global Positioning Systems in their activities to increase their market share and productivity.

Currently, a large number of businesses including banks, oil marketing companies and retail operators are at the verge of expansion and merging within a highly competitive market and a fast growing population.

The GIS is a computer system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing and displaying geographically referenced information; (data identified according to location). The technology makes use of the huge array of satellites orbiting the Earth which take digital images of the planet.

Changes to the planet's surface can be tracked using the satellites and can be used to map data collected on the surface. The data are often taken from more traditional sources, such as medical records. The use of GIS softwares like BusinessMap, Business Analysts and ArcPad Mobile GIS will enable businesses to create custom business maps and perform analysis that would help them identify patterns, trends and understand relationships not apparent from tables and charts.

At a Sambus Company-organized seminar on: "Leveraging the power of GIS business strategy" a Senior Manager of Sambus in charge of GIS, Mrs. Amerley Ampofo said the GIS is a valuable tool for businesses due to its capability to assist in market surveys and research, and can help to reduce turnaround time and increase productivity of firms.

"The GIS tool can also help in house numbering, personal credit data for loan management, monitoring and management of resources such as wildlife, forestry among others, allowing emergency planners to easily calculate emergency response times in the event of a natural disaster, or find wetlands that need protection.

"In fact, it is a system that provides the power to answer critical business questions quickly, accurately, and visually. "The future success of businesses will therefore be determined to a large extent by the competitive advantages of investing in and implementing smart technology like Geographical Information System," she said. The cost of businessMap GIS software is estimated at US$500.

In Ghana, Sambus is the sole distributor of GIS and GPS systems and prides itself as an integrator able to provide the broad spectrum of IT solutions ranging from web-based systems, smart card systems, Geographical Information Systems, GPS, Remote Sensing Technologies and Financial Management Solutions.

Sambus has been in operation for 16 years and has experienced consistent annual growth.

The Company has won numerous Industry Partnership awards. Hewlett Packard Corporation adjudged the company as its overall best Partner in Ghana for the year 2003 beating 25 other HP Partners and again in 2004 and 2005. The company was also adjudged as ESRIGIS software Best Partner for the whole of Africa in 2003.


Source: Business and Financial Times