Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has been adjudged the Digital Leader of the Year at the Ninth Ghana Information Technology and Telecom (GITTA) Awards for championing the digital transformation of the Ghanaian economy.

The award conferred on the Vice President, was in recognition of his untiring efforts to leverage on technology to improve service delivery in the public sector and to facilitate rapid economic growth.

The annual event, organized by the Instinct Wave was intended to recognize the contributions of industry players and individuals for their outstanding performance, creativity and inventing innovative products and services to better the lots of the people.

It was held on the theme: “Celeb rating Innovation and Excellence in the ICT Sector”, which attracted key stakeholders in the telecom and information communication technology industry.

Vice President Bawumia, in an address, lauded industry players for their enormous contribution to the economy that has witnessed improvement in public service delivery.

He noted that the benefits of a digitised economy could not be over emphasized as it had the potential of moving the country beyond aid.

He announced that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) would by the end of the year, introduce a universal QR code to accept different cashless payments systems, which would save merchants from displaying several points of sale devices to receive payments and speed up the revolution of the banking system in the country.

Dr Bawumia said the universal QR code would enable mobile money merchants to use only their mobile phones for financial transactions and make the cashless economy a reality.

Highlighting some of the digital initiatives implemented by the government, Vice President Bawumia mentioned the digital address system, paperless ports system, medical drone delivery service and e-procurement system as well as the mobile money interoperability system that had enhanced financial inclusion of the unbanked segment of the population.

The Vice President re-affirmed government’s commitment to make wireless internet service free at the various senior high schools and tertiary educational institutions across the country and urged the telecommunication firms to come on-board to make it a reality.

The awards ceremony witnessed some public and private sector organisations rewarded for their contributions to the public sector reforms while their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs), especially those who embraced digitisation for effective and efficient delivery of public services honoured.

The Driver Vehicle and Licensing Authority (DVLA) took home three awards in recognition for its innovative reforms in application, processing and renewal of driver’s licenses while the Authority’s CEO, Mr Kwasi Agyeman Busia was adjudged the Best Public Sector CEO of the Year for his outstanding contribution to the public sector.

Mr Joe Anokyi, the CEO of the National Communications Authority, was adjudged the Best Public Sector Telecom CEO of the Year, Mr Archie Hesse, the CEO of the Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement System was adjudged the Best Payment Industry CEO of the Year and Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the CEO of MTN received the Telecom CEO of the Year for the private sector category.

Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communications took home the Industry Personality of the Year.

The Ghana Police Service was adjudged the Best Government Use of Social Media for Citizen Engagement, Ghana Community Network Service Limited (GCNet) received an award for being the Best Public Sector e-Solution Provider, the National Cyber Security Centre was adjudged the Best for Excellence in Cyber Security Initiative, Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) took home the Best Public Sector Institution for Transforming Education through Technology.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, Mr Akin Naphtal, the CEO of Instinct Wave, said the awards night provided exceptional opportunity for stakeholders to network, entertain clients and reinforce relationships with partners and reward staff with exceptional performance.