Alcatel-Lucent (News 
- Alert) moved another step closer to its dream of “realizing the potential of a connected world” by actively working with NITA (National Information Technology Agency) to support the e-Ghana initiative of bringing a range of online services to government offices in remote areas of the country.
The 600km fiber-optic ‘backbone’ network, which is being installed in Ghana, will specifically link Ghana’s north and south as well as international submarine gateways via its eastern corridor and will apply the1830 Photonic Service Switching.
“This is an important step toward realizing the vision of giving our people access to a range of critical services how and when they need them,” said William Tevie, director general at NITA.
Apart from being responsible for the network operations of Ghana’s entire ‘e-government’ program for three years starting from November 2012, Alcatel-Lucent will work with local IT hardware and services provider, IPMC to provide a national data center facility to support the network, said company officials.
Alcatel-Lucent will also train NITA’s employees to ensure a seamless transfer of knowledge so that the NITA teams can take over the full network operation responsibility by the end of the three-year period.
Through its global alliance with HP, Alcatel-Lucent claims that it is well positioned to deliver the broadest ICT portfolio available to its customers and enable quality and reliable Internet based e-services. It will also host a Genesys (News - Alert) helpdesk solution, a performance rating platform and e-learning systems from Saba.
Alcatel-Lucent's alliance with NITA is expected to streamline government processes, develop local IT services and improve the transparency and efficiency of government functions. More importantly, it will future proof the network against anticipated increase in demand in Ghana over the next few years.
The entire program is being funded by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), an office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to Christian Friis Bach, Danish Minister for development, ICT was important for sustainable growth and development as it empowered individuals and increased transparency and accountability.
“I am very pleased that Denmark and Danish technical solutions in this way can contribute to Ghana's further economic development,” noted Bach.
In an effort to support the 'Broadband China' initiative, China's program to deliver high-speed broadband to more than 250 million homes by 2015, Alcatel-Lucent is helping to increase the capacity and reach of China Telecom's (News - Alert) fiber optic data network.
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Edited by
Brooke Neuman
