NITA, Ghana Domain boards inagurated
Effective January 2022, the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) will commence the registration of all IT professionals and operators in the IT industry in the country.
The move forms part of the agency’s resolve to enforce standards, monitoring and compliance as well as ensure certification of professionals and organisations in the IT industry in Ghana.
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The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Mrs. Ursula G. Owusu Ekuful, gave the hint last Wednesday (Sept 22) when she inaugurated the board of trustees for NITA.
The occasion was also used to inaugurate the members of the governing board of the Ghana Domain Name Registry.
Mrs. Owusu Ekuful said the decision to register operators in the IT industry followed a stakeholder engagement in October, 2020.
NITA Board
The board for NITA is chaired by Dr. Kwabena Addo Atuah, with the Director-General of NITA, Mr. Richard Edmund Okyere-Fosu, a representative of the National Security Council, Mr. Gerard Nana Kwakwa Osei-Tutu, and a former Chief Director of the Ministry of Communications, Mr. Issah Yahaya.
Also serving on the board are the President's nominees: Mrs. Mauida A. S. Acheampong Wilson, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, Ms. Sheila Y. N. Minkah-Premo and a representative of the Ministry of Communications, Ms. Ama Pomaa Boateng.
A representative of the Industry is yet to be nominated.
NITA which is the Electronic Transactions Regulator of Ghana was established by the NITA Act, Act 771 in 2008 and supported by the Electronic Transactions Act (772) as the ICT policy implementing arm of the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation.
It also regulates all electronic transactions under the law and is responsible for implementing Ghana’s IT policies.
Standards
Mrs. Owusu-Ekuful further indicated that NITA had developed seven standards documents to help improve the operations of IT within the ecosystem through guidelines and procedures.
Additionally, the minister charged the new board to upgrade the National Data Centre with additional storage capacity and government cloud infrastructure as the primary data storage for all MMDAs.
The Director General of NITA, Mr. Richard Okyere -Fosu, speaking on behalf of the board chairman who was absent, accepted the challenge to provide the needed strategic focus for the agency.
Ghana Domain
The board of the GDNR has Dr. Nanayaa Tina Owusu-Prempeh as chairperson with the Executive Director of the GDNR, Nana Kofi Asafu-Aidoo, Mr. Andrew Ayitey Okoe Bulley, a representative of the CSIR, Dr. Francis Boateng Agyenim and a representative of the Ministry of Interior, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Mr. Vance Baba Gariba.
Also appointed to serve on the board are a representative of public universities, Mr. Lucas Yikimpa Chigabatia, a representative of private universities, Prof. Daniels Obeng-Ofosu as well as Mr. Isaac Feve Ayiku and Estelle Akafio-Sowah, who both represent operators in the industry.
The GDNR became operational in 2017.
The GDNR, provided for by the Electronic Transactions Act of 2008, is mandated to administer and manage the country’s domain name space.
It is also to comply with international best practice in the administration of the .gh domain name space and license and regulate registries.
Dr. Nanayaa Tina Owusu-Prempeh, on behalf of the members of the board, expressed appreciation to the president for the confidence reposed in them.