DEPUTY INFORMATION MINISTER TO VISIT SALAGA CIC

The Deputy Minister for Information is to vsit East Gonja District on Monday 14th August, 2012. As part of his visit he will inspect the facilities and activities at the Salaga Community Information Center-CIC.
The center has been without a reliable internet service since the begining of 2012 and much has been done by management of the center to get the it(cic) running as it is expected but their effort were in vain.
It is our fervent hope and expectation that, with the coming of the Honourable Minister to the center most of our challenges would be addressed if not completely.
The Ghana Investment Fund Electronic Communication-GIFECs are doing their outmost best to see the effective operation of the center. In recent past, they have assisted the center five desktop computers and helped in the capacity building of the staff.  Recently, the center received an LCD television from IMT courtesy GIFEC. I must say this is gesture is unprecedented.

TELE-INNOVATION PROGRAMME

Participants at the Salaga CIC tele-innovation workshop

Telecentres are public information and communication technology (ICT) access centres that may range from simple public call centres and internet kiosks run by entrepreneurs and public agencies, to community information service centres that offer more than just access to ICTs. Since the late 1990s, a significant number of telecentres have been developed as a means of providing access to telecommunications in rural communities. This first generation of telecentres deployed mainly in rural areas, is slowly becoming more or less obsolete due to technological developments and the rapid diffusion of mobile technologies in Africa as well as the rest of the world.

It is in this regard that the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is being requested by several member States to help them transform their existing telecentres into agents of economic and social change beyond access to information technology. The transformation is expected to include change in management and ownership structures and in the nature and characteristics of services of the centres.

The concept proposes key steps to be undertaken in transforming the telecentres into innovative institutions offering a number of value-added products whilst promoting technical and socio-economic change in their host communities. This would in effect accord most of the telecentres the opportunity to be in the business of processing and providing timely information on important development issues including agricultural market prices, health issues and current and international news, as well as small business support to low income areas, and access to e-government and e-health services, as well as community based multi-media training and production opportunities. 

This noble gesture, was to start as a pilot project in two CIC's in Ghana- Salaga CIC in the northern region and Weta CIC in the votal region.

CIC/GHANA POST MANAGERS-TRAIN THE TRAINER WORKSHOP @JAKCITI

The workshop was organized by Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication that brought together twenty six participants from both Community Information Center and Ghana Post.
 The participants were taking through the psychology of learning, business plan development, Microsoft office applications, basic troubleshooting and basic networking.
The facilitors did a very good job and the entire training session was interesting. All the participants were given time to tried their hands on the practical lessons taught and to prepare a comprehensive business plan for their respective groups under the supervision of the facilitors.
The managers have greater task ahead of them to try to use the knowledge acquired at the workshop to impact on their community members who they serve.

ICT QUIZ FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN SALAGA

The management of salaga CIC is planning vigorously to organise an ICT what do you know competition for the two Senior High Schools in Salaga come June 2011.

The  CIC early last year organised such competition for the basic schools in the salaga township. The participated schools were St.Anthony's JHS, Timu Girls JHS, Sakafatu JHS, Presby JHS. After the entire programme St.Anthony's JHs emerges as the winnners.

RESTORATION OF INTERNET SERVICE

The Salaga Community Information Center after a year long of internet dark- out, the center has been re-connected to the internet. The center since 2007 to date is the only telecenter within Salaga and its surroundings that provide internet service to the over eight hundred thousand population in and outside the East Gonja District. Internet is very important aspect of the peoples life and have recommended the management and stakeholders of the center for restoring the services back to help further research work and social networking.
On the 15th of february,2011, technicians from K-NET came to Salaga on the instruction of Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication- GIFEC, to re-connect internet services.