Public Institutions Must Adapt to AI or Risk Obsolescence - Sam George Warns
Accra, Ghana – 23 July, 2025 – Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has emphasized the urgent need for Ghana to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and enhance its digital capacity to protect data sovereignty and drive development.
Speaking at a public lecture hosted by the Office of the Head of Civil Service, Sam George warned that failure to adapt to emerging technologies like AI, automation, and e-governance could render public institutions obsolete.
He stressed that transformation without vision would yield limited results, cautioning that Ghana must avoid repeating past mistakes in technological transitions and highlighted further Africa's demographic advantage, with 68% of the continent's population under 35, generating massive volumes of data that require protection from digital exploitation.
To mainstream AI across the public sector, the minister announced a two-day AI Boot Camp for Cabinet Ministers, Ministers of State, and designated focal persons, designed to introduce government leaders to AI principles and generate tailored use cases and revealed a digital maturity mapping of all Ministries has been completed, with bi-monthly progress reviews to be conducted by the Office of the President indicating 200 AI training kits from the One Million Coders Project will be made available to the Civil Service Training Centre to facilitate widespread upskilling of public servants.
Sam George also proposed a reform of the civil service IT cadre, stressing the need for every ministry to have at least five dedicated digital officers.
Source :Lead News Online
