Tertiary ladies in ICT residential program ends

The Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation has climaxed its residential module training for female tertiary students in Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security and Scratch (Game &Dialogue).

It was organized in partnership with Huawei Technologies, Ghana, S.A. Limited.

Participants were drawn from the University Students Association of Ghana (USAG) and were taken through a ten (10) day training programme in Artificial Intelligence and cyber-Security.

In all, fifty (50) students participated in the program. It was under the theme, “Connected Girls, Creating Brighter Futures”.

The Ladies in ICT program is a new version of the Ministry’s flagship program “Girls-in-ICT”. It is an initiative of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), aimed at introducing young girls to basic ICT skills.

Training was held amidst business competitions among various groups to select the most outstanding.

In a speech at the climax, Minister for Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful indicated that the module has been incorporated into the Girls-In-ICT Initiative and will become one of the prominent features of the initiative.

“This training is aimed at giving you an exposure that opens to you, the world of possibilities through ICTs. The ICT sector demands the full involvement of enterprising ladies occupying positions that will enable them impact the society. The Ministry will continue to pursue innovative ways of bridging the digital gender divide as fast as we can”, she said.

The training, Minister said was just the maiden edition for tertiary level. “I am informed that facilitators from Huawei took you through concepts such as Deep Learning, Machine Learning and Cloud. The National Cyber Security Centre also facilitated a presentation on Cyber Security and Cyber Hygiene which is very critical especially knowing that we do everything on our phones and also surf the internet.

“The Scratch (Game &Dialogue) training is very practical and I encourage you to practice more to perfect it. Some of these courses are offered for several weeks however it has been sandwiched for you in two weeks. We must push ourselves   strategically as ladies/women to be able to compete effectively in this ‘male dominated’ sector to assume our place asco- equals with our male counterparts. It is my fervent believe that you will continue to practice what has been taught you and also aspire to distinguish yourselves” she added.

She was particularly happy about the group’s presentations, adding, that the topics are worth noting. The topics were soil fertility and see viability tester; Pest and Crop Diseases Control; Smart irrigation; Unihealth and Digi Parl.

“I am looking forward to meeting the group that were adjudeged the best business model on AI”.

Minister expressed appreciation to Brigadier General Winfred Dzandu-Hedidor; the young female mentors and judges from ADC, NITA and KACE.

She mentioned the on-going SIM Registration exercise  and urged all Ghanaians to register their SIM cards with their National Identification Cards (Ghana Card) over  a period of 6 months.

“We must all participate to ensure that we continue to keep our SIM cards and also weed out fraudulent activities within the mobile space. We have also launched the Cyber Security Awareness Month celebration and Ghanaians will be educated on what they need to do to stay safe” she indicated.

According to the Minister, the Ministry is planning the celebration of the Girls-in-ICT Initiative in Savannah and North East Regions before the year ends.

“As part of the mentorship programme, we will be calling on some of you to serve as mentors to the young girls in both regions”.