Friday, 01 August

Sam George, Chief of Staff opens AI bootcamp to boost tech-driven governance across ministries

Technology
Julius Debreah

Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Mr  Samuel Nartey George, has led the official opening of a three-day Ministerial Artificial Intelligence (AI) Bootcamp aimed at accelerating the integration of AI across Ghana’s public sector.

The high-level training, organised in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), brings together Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, and designated AI focal persons from all government ministries.

The objective is to equip them with the strategic knowledge to champion AI-driven solutions within their respective sectors.

In his address, Mr George stressed the urgency for Ghana to adopt AI technologies to enhance governance, boost service delivery, and strengthen national security.

"We must begin to use artificial intelligence in many of our embassies to analyse and determine the profile of individuals entering the country," he said, highlighting one of several possible real-world applications.

The bootcamp is designed not to turn policymakers into coders, but to build their capacity to design, guide, and implement AI-related policies and strategies.

As part of the initiative, participating Ministries are expected to develop sector-specific AI use cases and implementation roadmaps by the end of the programme on Sunday.

The Minister explained that the outcomes of the Bootcamp would be institutionalised as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each Ministry, creating a mechanism for accountability and measurable progress in AI adoption.

Citing practical examples, Mr George proposed that the Ministry of Health could leverage AI through a health intelligence centre capable of predicting and monitoring disease outbreaks based on real-time hospital data—an initiative that could become a benchmark KPI for the Ministry.

He emphasised that the AI agenda enjoys the full support of President John Dramani Mahama, who has directed that artificial intelligence be treated as a whole-of-government priority, rather than a standalone initiative by the Ministry of Communication.

“The President was very clear—AI must cut across all Ministries,” Mr. George reiterated.

Chief of Staff, Mr. Julius Debrah, who officially opened the Bootcamp, also confirmed that the AI solutions generated during the programme will be incorporated into Ministerial KPIs, with coordination support from the Ministry of Communication and technical monitoring by a cross-sectoral team, including the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and UNDP Ghana.

 

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Source: Classfmonline.com/Cecil Mensah