Ghana to set up Data Exchange Hub as it readies to deploy Big Data

Government, is looking to establish what it calls the Data Exchange Hub.

The establishment of the Data Exchange Hub is in preparation of the deployment of Big Data by government to rationalize the collection, processing, storing and sharing of data across its agencies.

The deployment of Big Data by the government is expected to come with the needed data analytics platform which will help make proper sense of all data being mined by the government.

It will also help government track trends across the ecosystem and make projections based on data modelling techniques that will be critical for decision making.

Some sectors identified by government for the deployment of Big Data include healthcare, agriculture, governance, trade, security, education, finance, disaster management and recreation.

Speaking at the launch of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives on Thursday, June 23, 2022, Minister for Communications and Digitisation, Ursula Owusu, averred the Data Exchange Hub will provide the needed infrastructure, protocols and framework for data sharing across public and private sectors.

According to the Minister, it will provide the needed APIs to integrate with critical government systems to provide data input in real time, the cost of data and the use of the data.

Ghana has been a regional leader for digital transformation and developing data-driven digital economy in recent years with investments from both the public and private sectors.

This has included strategic investments in digital infrastructure and the use of development of legal and regulatory frameworks for safe data usage.

The the launch of the 2021 World Development Report (WDR) in Ghana during the Country Dissemination Workshop, forms part of a series of national events designed to raise awareness of WDR 2021 policy messages in the Western and Central Africa Region of the World Bank Group and to promote dialogue with national policymakers and stakeholders of the data ecosystem.

With broadband access advancing and data traffic rising rapidly, harnessing the development potential of these growing volumes of data requires bridging critical gaps in the legal and regulatory frameworks for data creation, use and reuse.

The World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives, explores the tremendous potential of the changing data landscape to improve the lives of poor people, while also acknowledging it’s potential to open back doors that can harm individuals, businesses and societies.

To address this tension between the helpful and harmful potential of data, the report calls for a new social contract that enables the use and reuse if data to create economic and social value, enquires equitable access to that value, and fosters trust that data will not be misused in harmful ways.