Data Has Become Increasingly Important For Decision-Making – Bawumia

The Vice President Dr Mahaudu Bawumia has said that the government’s development priorities are focused on economic transformation through value-addition to create jobs, reduce poverty, and enhance social inclusion while sustaining the integrity of our environment.

The  medium and long-term development plans, he said are underpinned by the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ vision to change the mindsets of the citizens towards an increased reliance on internal resources plus private sector investment to lead economic transformation.

Dr Bawumai said these while speaking in Accra at the 18th Plenary of the Group of Earth Observations (GEO) Week in Accra on Wednesday, November 2, 2022.

Dr Bawumia said data had become increasingly important for decision-making, and Government’s targeted programmes such as poverty reduction drives and the fight against illegal mining were based in part on such data.

“In Ghana we are applying the products of the Digital Earth Africa programme to monitor landscape changes because of illegal mining activities. Developing an interoperable data ecosystem that combines Earth observations data with other data, including socioeconomic data, citizen data, and statistical data, among others would be more meaningful and impactful.

“Our development priorities are focused on economic transformation through value-addition to create jobs, reduce poverty, and enhance social inclusion while sustaining the integrity of our environment. Our medium and long-term development plans are underpinned by the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ vision to change the mindsets of our citizens towards an increased reliance on internal resources plus private sector investment to lead economic transformation.

“The application of digital technologies is fundamental to the achievement of the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda, with emphasis on the maximisation of resources, investments in agriculture, improved health, and industrialisation, enhancing critical skills and education and promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.”