Dr Millicent Agangiba, the Executive Director of Inclusive Tech Group, has urged the government to ensure that People with Disabilities (PwDs) are included in the country’s digital technology agenda.
Inclusive Teach is an organisation that works to ensure all-inclusive society where various structures exist for the full utilization and participation of vulnerable groups in the digital space.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on the side-lines of the 11th Digital Rights and Inclusive Forum 2024 (DRIF24), underway in Accra, Dr Agangiba stressed that the PwDs could not be excluded socially, and left behind digitally, in today’s interconnected world.
The Paradigm Initiative (PIN), a Pan African organisation, and its partners are organising the three-day conference on the theme: “Fostering Rights and Inclusion in the Digital Space.”
Other partners of the conference, being attended by hundreds of delegates, civil society organisations and actors, NGOs and the academia drawn from 61 countries across the world include E-Governance and Internet Governance Foundation for Africa (EGIGFA) and the University of Media, Arts and Communication.
The rest are the Media Foundation for West Africa, Inclusive Tech Group, Internet Society (ISOC) Ghana Chapter, and Human Security Research Centre (HSRC)
Event sponsors include Wikimedia, African Digital Rights Network, Ford Foundation, Luminate, Google, Kingdom of The Netherlands, Mott Foundation, Open Technology Fund (OTF), Internews, Small Media, among others.
As the nation makes significant progress to advance in digital technology, the government must tackle the existing disparities in accessing digital technologies by supporting and providing the required resources and materials to train the PwDs, Dr Agangiba said.
She said although the Inclusive Tech was doing much to enlighten, especially the visually impaired to easily access and use the internet, more support and resources were required to empower more of the PwDs to ensure their inclusion in the digital space.
With the progress made so far in the country’s digitally driven economy, being spearheaded by the Vice President Alhaji Dr Mahamuds Bawumia, the Executive Director, said if the PwDs were not empowered enough, it would be difficult for them to cope with social life.
As the world turns into a global village with rising internet penetrations, Dr Agangiba said vulnerable people and groups as well as the marginalised in society must also understand how to access and use the internet for productive activities.
She said now that quality education, healthcare and other essential services were being accessed digitally, it was appropriate the government supported her organisation and others to also train and empower the PwDs to access the digital space too.
Dr Albert Antwi-Bosiako, the Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, said there were gaps in internet access, particularly in the global South and underserved communities, where access to affordable and reliable internet remained limited.
Dr Antwi-Bosiako noted though the nation had made progress in internet penetration, it was imperative to remain vigilant in addressing the digital divide that persisted, particularly in the un-served and underserved communities.
He said it was the responsibility of governments to foster digital inclusion among their citizens and build a more inclusive digital society.
Dr Aida Opoku-Mensah, the Vice Chairperson, PIN Board, said Ghana was privileged to host the conference, and expressed appreciation to the partners, hoping that the participants would build networks.
The DRIF24, she added, remained important platform where conversations on digital policy in Africa were shaped, policy directions debated, and partnerships forged for action.
