Accra, Ghana// — Child Online Africa (COA) and its partners today joined the rest of Africa to deepen their commitment to African Telecommunications Union (ATU) and ICT Day celebration with a call on countries to implement a comprehensive e-skills framework.
The fact that Africa needs to catch up with the rest of the world in the uptake of 4IR technologies such as AI, Big Data cannot be over emphases, the Executive Director of Child Online Africa, Mrs Awo Aidam Amenyah said in a statement issued to mark the day.
Augmented reality and robotics that are globally revolutionizing all economic sectors and increasing efficiency, productivity, and value are critical for Africa too.
It is against this background ATU day was initiated to prepare Children, Young people and Adults alike for the future markets, the statement noted.
Now in its 44th year, ATU continues to build momentum and impact with the ultimate goal of providing all African business entities, government agencies, colleges and universities, non-formal associations, civil society organizations and individuals committed to this year’s ATU day theme of ‘Digital Skills Development for Africa’s Digital Transformation”.’ which encourages all these stakeholders to prioritize e-skills through the adoption of ATU’s e-skills framework.
“Africa cannot function effectively in the era of 4IR and other emerging technologies without e-skills. The absence of these skills will be a barrier to growth, employment, and social inclusion in Africa. Cybersecurity is an important skill for the success of all businesses and organizations.
COA is proud to be associating with this call to emphasize the need for e-skills and encourage industry to be involved in curriculum design, mainstream e-skills development in education from kindergarten right up in Africa, then put systems in place which will protect, prevent and activate proactive change in safeguarding the wellbeing of children and women when the need arises.” said Awo Aidam Amenyah, executive director, COA.
Instructively, Child Online Africa (COA) is a child focused research and advocacy non-governmental organization that campaigns for/with children and young people and their families to influence policies and change practices that affect child welfare in Ghana and across Africa.
It builds partnerships with organizations and individuals to promote online safety by employing rights and evidence-based advocacy approaches to achieve sustainable outcomes.https://www.childonlineafrica.org/.
African Eye Report
