New technology for identification, navigation launched

The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Mr Akwasi Oppong-Fosu, has called for investment in the development of indigenous technologies suitable for addressing the unique needs of the country.

He said science, technology and innovation were the critical tools Ghana needed to accelerate its socio-economic transformation.

“Without investment in indigenous but world class technology, we will be left to adopt costly foreign technologies that are not designed or developed based on our conditions,” he stated.

Mr Oppong-Fosu made the call at the launch of Ananse identification platform, an indigenous technology to enhance identification, address location and navigation system in the country.

The mobile device uses the latest advances in biometric technology, electronic maps, GPS coordinates and satellite navigation to produce an integrated identification, addressing and location database to meet business and public needs.

Indigenous technologies 

Mr Oppong-Fosu said for any country to develop, it must have the capacity to develop the technologies it needed to address its unique challenges, and Ghana was not an exception to that rule.

“Unfortunately, in our country, one of the areas you hear the least about is our investment, promotion and achievements in science, technology and innovation, an area that is critical to the development of all modern economies,” he said.

He said Ghana had unique challenges that could be properly addressed with indigenous but world class technology to be able to compete with other countries on the world stage.

Unique challenges

The minister noted that on a daily basis, local businesses and institutions were forced to adopt technological products that addressed their challenges to some extent, “but are unable to provide us the solution we seek.’’

In essence, he said, we are forced to make do with what is available and added that Ghana faced unique challenges in addressing national identification and address location.

“We build anywhere, anyhow, without first registering our properties and obtaining building permits. This is complicating our country’s addressing and identification efforts thus making it difficult for foreign designed solutions to be used in a cost effective manner,” he added.

Local technologies

The Director-General of the Ghana-Indian Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT, Dr Dorothy Gordon, reiterated the need for Ghana to move away from consuming foreign technologies that are not suitable as indigenous solutions.

“Ghana is one of the few countries grappling with address system and it is time we developed our own technologies based on our needs”, she said, and urged businesses and the public to patronise the new technology.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Engineering System and Service Limited, Dr Ben Adu, developers of the Ananse system, said the new technology would help solve the nagging challenge of poor addressing and identification facing the country.

“With the use of the Ananse system, location of places and property will be as easy as it is in most developed countries,” he said.