DEPLOYMENT AND SPREAD OF ICTS IN THE COMMUNITY Policy Context As part of the strategy to facilitate the deployment and exploitation of ICTs in the society and economy, special efforts will need to be directed at promoting the use of these technologies in rural, urban and underserved communities. It is acknowledged that the development of Ghana’s information society will depend on the level and the spread of access to these technologies, and their resources, services and applications. Also it is recognized that although ICTs could advance Ghana’s socio-economic development, the benefits of that development may not necessarily spread to all sections of the society. -- There is therefore a need for specific efforts to be made in terms of policies and special initiatives aimed at ensuring and enhancing the possible distributive effects of the developmental impacts of these technologies to the community at large. Steps will need to be taken to put in place special ICT initiatives to directly address poverty reduction within targeted communities and sections within the society and taking corrective measures to mitigate and address specific income distributive issues arising from the developmental impacts of the deployment and exploitation of ICTs within the economy and society. It is further acknowledged that although rural ICT deployment and exploitation initiatives can be successful and can have impact of the social and economic outcomes of rural people, most of these initiatives cannot have an appreciable impact on accelerating the socio-economic development process of rural communities and beyond if their success are not replicable and/or scalable. The Policy Statement The Government acknowledging that Ghana’s entry into the information age will require rapid extension of access to ICTs to all sections of the community. --- To reach out to, and benefit, the majority of the population in for instance health, education and e-commerce, and as such is committed to taking special policy measures to extend ICT applications, services and access to the wider community including those in the rural areas where many of the most disadvantaged and remote communities are. As part of this commitment the Government will: • Implement a number of community-based initiatives within the rolling (NICI) plans that will be developed to implement the provisions of the ICT4AD Policy. • Put in place measures to develop and implement village information and communications infrastructure (VICI) initiatives targeting the implementing of NICI programmes at the local government and district administration levels. • Commit to putting in place specific ICT policy measures and initiatives targeted at the disadvantaged sections of the Ghanaian population including the visually, mentally and physically impaired and disadvantaged. • Put in place a mechanism to ensure the participation of women in developing the information society and to ensure that information and communication policies at all levels are engendered, and geared toward meeting specific developmental needs of women. 57