On the whole, Ghana’s human resource base in key skill areas required for developing the nation’s information economy and society need to be improved if the country is to achieve its goal of transforming its agricultural based economy into an information-rich and knowledge-based economy. Policy Statement The Government acknowledges that the young population of Ghana of close to 60% under the age of 25 years can be transformed into an asset by adding value to human resources and providing the environment for utilizing these resources for socio-economic development process ---- and that ICTs could play a major role in this area. The development of people to support the process of moving Ghana into an information society and economy is therefore top priority of the Government and the crucial role that ICTs can play in this area is fully recognized and shall be promoted by the Government. As part of the mission aimed at producing the right types of skills and human resources required for developing and driving Ghana’s information and knowledge-based economy and society, the Government is fully committed to putting in place and facilitating the implementation of a comprehensive human resource development programme targeting critical skill areas across key sectors of the economy for supporting the development of the Ghana information society and economy. This policy commitment will in addition contribute to addressing some of the other identified developmental challenges facing Ghana, including: the challenges of the low professional, technical and managerial manpower base of the country; the challenges of the social and economic pressures of a youthful population; the challenges of turning the youthful population into an asset for development, as well as the challenges of the relatively high proportion of population with no educational attainment. Policy Objectives and Strategies The Objectives The broad objectives are: • To improve the human resource development capacity and the research and development (R&D) capacity of Ghana to meet the demands and requirements for developing Ghana’s information and knowledge-based economy and society • To develop the nation’s human resource needs in critical skill areas in all key sectors of the economy • To promote and facilitate skill improvement and update within the public and private sector • To harness and fully utilize the nation’s human resources • To target the development of technical and managerial skills development as a priority area • To develop a pool of knowledgeable ICT workforce in critical skill areas and professions that will be able to contribute to the process of the development of Ghana’s information and knowledge economy • To improve the human resource development capacity of the nation’s universities and colleges 33