The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Communications and its implementing agency, National Information Technology Agency (NITA), is deploying the Smart Workplace™ solution to all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The pilot of the Smart Workplace™ solution commenced in 2018. However, the Government accelerated its deployment in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic to enable public sector workers to work remotely to reduce personal contact, curb the spread of COVID-19, and ensure the safety of public servants.
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The rollout of the Smart Workplace™ is being carried out by NITA. Currently, 300 government agencies including the Ghana Health Service are on the platform as NITA facilitates the onboarding of the next batch of agencies.
The Smart Workplace™ solution has over 19 features and several benefits. It provides Staff with a highly efficient virtual work environment with a single access point to all resources by interfacing with MDAs and MMDAs internal (in-house) systems. These include:
- Enterprise Email,
- Calendar,
- Microsoft Teams (video conferencing),
- Document Management,
- Correspondence Management,
- Electronic Memos,
- Corporate News/Announcements,
- Enterprise Search,
- Task Management,
- Knowledge Management,
- Workflow Automation.
Other features include Business Intelligence and Analytics, Timesheet, Project Monitoring, Business Application Access, Notifications, Survey, Media Gallery, and Mobile Access.
Smart Workplace™ can also automate manual business processes such as Leave schedules, Vehicle, and Payment requests, as well as Stores Requisitions.
The Minister for Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful (MP) has urged all public servants to utilize the platform which is supported by the Government for use by all public institutions, especially during the pandemic period.
“Changing our way of doing things is not easy but with practice, we will become more comfortable using these digital tools, and at such a time as this, Smart Workplace™ will help with the transition safely, without sacrificing speed and efficiency”, said Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful. She called on all public institutions to give NITA the necessary support to ensure a successful implementation of the project.
NITA will submit forms to all MDAs and MMDAs for the collation of information which will be used for onboarding of institutions onto the Smart Workplace™ platform.
The forms are also available on NITA’s website, www.nita.gov.gh.