By William
Yaw Owusu
Saturday
August 11, 2018
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been
listed among the top 20 influential people who are using digital technology for
the advancement of governance.
There are powerful 100 individuals listed by Apolitical
Group Ltd based in London, United Kingdom, as having excelled using digital
technology in entrepreneurship, journalism, government and business, the first
of its kind; and President Akufo-Addo’s name features prominently.
President Akufo-Addo’s name is listed among influential
personalities such as Tim Berners-Lee, President of the Open Data Institute and
Founder of the World Wide Web, Pia Andrews, Service Integration Lead in New
Zealand Department of Internal Affairs; Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for
Electronics and IT and Minister for Law and Justice in India and Park Won-soon,
Mayor, Seoul, Korea.
On Apolitical Ltd’s website, the firm recognized the
President as having been “a strong advocate for the digitisation of Ghana and
has launched a number of initiatives including a new national digital ID
scheme, an electronic payment platform and a digital property addressing system
all of which are considered as some of the most innovative in the region.”
It further said “under his leadership, Ghana has
significantly improved its digital services and gained a reputation as one of
the most advanced digital societies in Africa.”
Explaining the rationale behind the research which
is the first of its kind, Apolitical Ltd said “it’s the first of its kind to
show the international spread of the field, and includes individuals from every
continent. We’re excited to present our 2018 list of the world’s 100 most
influential people in digital government.”
“Digital technologies are transforming nearly every
aspect of our lives, including, increasingly, our governments. In every country
and at every level of government, public servants and ministers are having to
work out how to reform and re-imagine government for the digital era. Bringing
transformative digital technologies to one of our largest, most complex sectors
is a difficult work and the people leading this transformation are often as
visionary, imaginative and determined as the tech entrepreneurs the media loves
to celebrate.”
It further said “Digital government is, of course,
no longer brand-new. A first generation of reformers has been followed by a new
one, who are building on their predecessors’ learnings. Because of this, we
have concentrated on celebrating those currently working in or on digital government,
rather than some of the pioneers who cut the first path through the analog
undergrowth.”
“We drew on nominations from over 100 expert
contributors to make the list, including digital government experts, academics
and public servants. While the list includes well-known leaders, whose every
blog post finds a global readership, we have also attempted to highlight the
unsung heroes who are quietly and tenaciously updating the machinery of
government. The first selection was generated by peer and expert nominations
and the final selection has been reviewed by independent experts around the
world.”
The firm said “if you work in policymaking, we’d
like to invite you to join our free global network for public servants. You can
read about what’s working – and not – in digital government (and a range of
other policy areas) around the world. You can also connect with colleagues and
experts in your field from more than 120 countries. If you think someone’s
missing from our top 100, please nominate them now for next year’s list by
emailing eve.powell@apolitical.co.”
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