IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

The exercise which began on Monday, June 17, 2013 is expected to last for a month and will also cover membership renewals.

The pilot exercise is being undertaken in two districts, Ayawaso and La, in the Greater Accra region and is limited to a selected number of personnel from the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed Forces only.

The biometric ID cards is also aimed at preventing the duplication of records and ensure effective verification system at the point of healthcare service delivery.

A new biometric registration centre of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) for the Ghana Police Service has been inaugurated.

The centre would provide an avenue for serving and retired police personnel, as well as members of the public, to register or renew their membership cards while they seek for medical care at the hospital.

The exercise is to help reduce the numerous complaints from clients in respect of their National Health Insurance identity cards.

The Corporate Affairs Manager of the National Health Insurance Authority, Winfred Agbedzivor announced this at the official inauguration of the Ashanti Regional office of the Authority in Kumasi.

Mr Sylvester Mensah, National Director of the NHIA, said the initiative would ensure efficiency and quality healthcare delivery.

He made this known in a speech read on his behalf at the inauguration of a regional administrative complex for the Authority in Sekondi on Friday.

A pilot programme will begin this month in the Greater Accra Region.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Sylvester Mensah, who disclosed this, said the project will spread across the country by the end of the year.

The Chief Executive of the NHIA, Sylvester Mensah announced this at the 2014 NHIA stakeholders’ forum in Accra on Tuesday.

The forum examined measures and strategies to improve transparency and accountability in the running of the scheme.

It would also start work on piloting electronic claims (E-claims) processing and host an extended stakeholder review of the capitation pilot in the Ashanti Region to inform its improvement and the subsequent nationwide rollout of this provider payment method.

The Chief Executive of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Mr Sylvester A. Mensah, disclosed this when he addressed members of the core management team of the NHIS and some key stakeholders at a management retreat held at Elmina in the Central Region.

The move forms part of an agreement signed with Huawei Technologies to implement the second phase of the eGovernment network which is expected to witness the roll out of 30 more Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) bringing NITA’s total stations to 60 across the country.

This is contained in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday.

NITA was established by an Act of Parliament to lead the transformation of Public Service information management and efficient delivery of services by government to citizens, provide the foundation and framework for utilising information and technology and to transform the country into a value-based knowledge society.

E-Governance is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of information communication transactions, integration of various stand-alone systems and services between government-to-customer, government-to-business, government-to-government as well as back office processes and interactions within the entire government framework.

The strategy, called the National Information Technology Agency Computer Emergency Response Team, (NITACERT) has been introduced to be a coordinating center for cyber security attacks.

“A nation unable to join this new economic order, unable to harness the power of ICT, is effectively locked out of the new global economy and forced to remain a marginal player on the world economic stage.

Whereas the NPP were calling for the use of the machines to guard against multiple voting, the NDC argued that the machine will only make the electoral process cumbersome.

This is contained in the 176-page “written address of counsel for petitioners”, where they explained that on Election Day, the election official needs to be sure that the person arriving at the polling station, apart from the mere production of the required ID card, is the same person whose biometric details are captured on the biometric voters register.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has launched an online passport application service for Ghanaians to ease the mode of application while ensuring maximum security for applicants.

Ms Hanna S. Tetteh, the sector Minister, said the service was inherent in the e-Government strategy.

She said: “The e-government strategy is targeted at ensuring the use of information technology to provide citizens with efficient passport services through a secure, fast and convenient means.”

She said ICT is the path to rapid socio-economic progress and that Ghana cannot afford to be left behind by globalisation.

She stressed the need for the citizenry to be supported to become computer literate.

Minister for Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful says the government’s vision towards digitalization has seen a successful milestone over the period, and more importantly, neighboring countries are ready to learn from the process as well to shape their citizens.

According to her, the agenda towards digitalization has shaped the country towards growth, promoting transparency, fighting corruption, and increasing efficiency and productivity.

Reports indicate that there was low turnout in the fourth and perhaps the last phase of the exercise at various polling stations in the country.

Officials at the Electoral Commission (EC) say patronage was massive in general and the projected target of 12 million registered persons exceeded.

The move is seen as one of the best efforts to breathe life into the once active postal services.

Thirteen post offices in Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Greater Accra and Western Regions have already been connected to internet on a pilot program.