By Prosper Adankai.
About 30 participants from various sectors of the economy have benefitted from a training on the virtues of Free and open software organised by the Ghana Centre for Free and Opensource Software (GCFOSS) at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.
This formed part of activities to commemorate the 2021 Software Freedom Day which sought to educate the public on the need to add value to the economy by enhancing business growth through the use of open-source technology.
Speaking to GBC News on the sidelines of the workshop, a Software Engineer with the Ghana-Indian Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT, Nii Okai Quaye called for the adoption of Open Source technology including social media, social media solutions and e-learning to develop indigenous solutions to community challenges.
He expressed confidence that with legal backing, Ministries Departments and Agencies can access the tools that come with free and Open Source software that would propel growth in business and positively impact the economy.
A facilitator, Angela Teyvi Norvi Yawa encouraged women to step up to the enormous opportunities that are available within the Information Technology arena in present times. She urged them to disabuse the erroneous impression created that IT is a man’s world, arguing that with dedication women can excel in that chosen field.
Co-Founder of the Gurene Wikimedian Community, Fuseini Mohammed Kamal-Deen hinted of plans to develop a Gurene (Frafra), language version of Wikipedia following a successful roll out of a similar version in Dagbani. He indicated that a team of volunteers have been constituted to share ideas on how to translate some terminologies in cyberspace.
The commemoration of the 2021 Software Freedom Day spearheaded by the Ghana- India Kofi Annan Center of Excellence in ICT, AITI-KACE in partnership with Linus (Accra) User Group Ghana, LUGG with support from UNICEF and the Digital Public Goods Alliance, DPGA.
