[ BLOG ]

The Code for Ghana ‘Call for Participation’ event was held at iSpace, Osu. It was well attended by members of the media, freelance developers and some data enthusiasts.

After the attendees introduced themselves to each other the various presentations began. The first presentation was made by J.O.T Agyemang (General Manager of ETV Ghana). His presentation was succinct yet very insightful and juicy. He spoke largely about the use of technology in news dissemination. This point was made more practical when he cited an example of how he took pictures of an accident scene on the Accra-Tema motorway and sent them to the police who in turn took immediate action. The use of technology in information dissemination indeed cannot be downplayed. He also cautioned that though technology can be used for many good things, there are some people who will definitely use it wrongly for their own selfish gains. We must therefore be cautious of what we take in as factual news; it might just be fabricated. Since there were many software developers gathered there, J.O.T Agyemang went on to encourage them. He challenged the popular assertion that ‘one must think outside the box’. In his submission, he said that since the box represents one’s comfort zone, it is best we take away the box totally lest we think outside it and return to it afterwards.

The next to make his presentation was Kojo Boakye from the Web Foundation (the Web Foundation happens to be one of Code for Ghana’s partners on the project). He gave a brief overview of the activities of the Web Foundation so far as the Open Data Initiative is concerned. Code for Ghana’s Open Data initiative is aimed at embedding software developers in media houses to come up with innovative ideas on how to disseminate information. As such, Kojo Boakye advised that the developers who would be sent to the media houses should be ones that exude a strong personality in order to get the job done. His presentation was followed by that of Florence Toffa (Director of Mobile Web Ghana). She gave a general overview of the entire project: the history; the time frame; activities and the membership procedure. The event was ended with a very interactive Q&A session.