Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

Messaging services power modern communications. WhatsApp is no doubt one of the most popular messaging service, standing tall among other services such as Viber, Google hangouts, Signal, Hipchat(now Stride ), Skype, Facebook Messenger, We Chat, Line, MessageMe, Piip,Tango , KIK and AIM. Currently, WhatsApp is so pervasive in Ghana that we can estimate 90 per cent of information flows around WhatsApp, actualised by a myriad of groups and broadcast lists covering all aspects of society; political groups, social networks, business, board level. There are ad hoc groups discussing serious issues, making important decisions, and even fun and mundane type conversations. History After leaving Yahoo, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, the founders of WhatsApp, applied to work with facebook but their job application was rejected. The rejection turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it gave them the opportunity to create WhatsApp in 2009 powered by the vision of ensuring that people...

KWAMI AHIABENU     22 NOVEMBER 2017  What is datafication? Data is a key driver in our information society. We are in an era where billions of data are generated by people and machines every second; this gives room for huge opportunities, as well as challenges. Datafication describes a new trend where many activities we undertake as individuals are systematically collected, converted into computerised data and thereafter transformed through analysis into information with high value. Datafication connotes the situation where previously dark data which holds a lot of valuable but 'invisible' information is made visible (you see patterns and trend more easily) to advance in data science and analytics capabilities of new digital technologies. You can think of datafication as the use of new digital technologies to liberate knowledge associated with your day-to-day physical activities by analysing data associated with such activities.  Practically,...

KWAMI AHIABENU     17 OCTOBER 2017 Software powers our information society. Each of the billions of people on the surface of the earth today, makes use of the new digital technologies either directly or indirectly on daily basis. From making a phone call, to driving a car or following your favourite sport on television, software is the invisible tool which makes it all possible. Most computer or information technology systems are made up of essentially four critical components; hardware- which is the most visible aspect-process, people and software. Computer software, or simply software, can be described as a set of instructions, applications, operating systems and documentation that instructs a computer or related equipment on what to do, and how to do it. For example, a banking software is basically a series of instructions and associated documentation which directs a banking system that accounts to credit or debit and under what circumstances.  There are ...

An IT expert has revealed some technical flaws in the recently launched 2.5 million-dollar Ghana PostGPS system that has been touted as the solution to the decades of poor addressing system in the country. Stefan Froelich who works with WITS Ghana, an IT solution company, after reviewing the technical element of the application said the system is fraught with some technical issues, some of which he described as amateurish.  In his estimation, the system "is poorly designed, ineptly built and has no chance of yielding anything close to the results it has been touted as capable of bringing". He concluded that Ghana may have been ripped off in the deal, saying "right now, this looks like money poorly spent!" adding Ghana has lost an opportunity do demonstrate to the world that it can develop a homegrown solution to its problems. Source:  http://3news.com/65053-2/

Accra, Ghana 24 th May, 2017 . Ghana has been selected to host the second Africa Open Data Conference (AODC) in July 2017. The four-day conference will be held at the Accra International Conference Centre from 17 – 21 July 2017. The first edition of the AODC was organized by the Africa Open Data Collaborative in September 2015 in Tanzania hosted by the Government of Tanzania and its people and supported by the World Bank, Code for Africa, Global Open Data for Agriculture & Nutrition initiative, Worldwide Web Foundation, MCC, and numerous other partners. The 2017 Africa Open Data Conference in Accra, Ghana is set to attract over 600 delegates drawn from all over Africa and the world at large. This auspicious event will push the leadership role of the private sector in supplying, using, and demanding open data, and bring together brilliant innovators and visionaries to grow their networks, hone their success, and connect with sources of support, and introduce investors...

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has launched its revised Code of Ethics aimed at promoting professionalism in journalism practice in Ghana. The objective of the revised Code of Ethics is to take cognisance of all the ethical breaches that have been identified in the practice of journalism in the country. It would be recalled that in 1994, the GJA developed and adopted its Code of Ethics which has served the Association well through the period. However, with the proliferation of media types, it had become necessary to revise the code to meet new challenges that have emerged in the intervening years. The challenges include the impact of media pluralism and diversity, the emergence of social media and the sheer numbers of radio and television stations across the country. The new GJA Code of Ethics is a ready guide that is applicable to all categories of journalists working with newspapers, radio, and television, cross media/multimedia, social media or those working as photo­ journ...

Media coverage of elections have come a long way since the transition elections of 1992. However, despite improvements, challenges still persist. Some commentators note that election coverage often fails to properly interrogate electoral issues, campaign promises and manifestos in a manner that demands accountability or enables the voters to make well-informed choices  at the polls. Also the ownership or control of media organizations by politicians  manifests in the biased editorial slant in favor of certain political parties, reflecting their allegiance to certain interest; be they private or state media houses. Also, the inability by newsroom staff to speak truth to power tends to undermine the quality of reportage in Ghana. However, the media coverage of Ghana’s December 2016 elections was characterized by some noteworthy innovations that won the media plaudits from the public.  Some newsrooms, for example, set up a fact-checking service where key elec...

Although there is a lot of activity when it comes to monitoring mainstream media, there is currently only an inefficient manual tracking of trends in social media here in Ghana. Social media provides the insight and up to the minute information that will be imperative in ensuring a peaceful Ghana Elections 2016. It is because of this gap in efficient data monitoring that Penplusbytes' Flagship "Social Media Tracking Centre" (SMTC) is set to roll out ahead of the December 7 polls. The SMTC is a system to monitor and respond in real-time to reports emanating from social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. The technology at the middle of  SMTC is the Aggie social media tracking software, developed at Georgia Tech. Aggie is able to present trends grouped around voting logistics, violence, political parties, etc. Penplusbytes will pass the information on to the National Elections Security Taskforce. Through rapid citizen feedback, gathered through social ...

Participants in a day's forum have expressed the belief that social media can be used positively to promote development and national security. According to them, social media could be a platform to provide security tip-offs for early-warning alerts to combat crime. The participants were contributing to the topic: "Social media and peace-building; social media and traditional media", at a public forum on free and responsible use of social media in Accra. The forum It was organised by the National Media Commission (NMC) and sought to bring together the participants to brainstorm on finding a framework for setting up policies and guidelines for social media to be responsible, while safeguarding freedom of expression in the country. Leading the discussion, the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Mr Sulemana Braimah, said even though social media could be used as a platform to foment trouble, there was the need to look at it from the positive s...

The cover page of the Governance Social Media Index. Penplusbytes has released the  second edition of the Governance Social Media Index (GSMI) report , which assesses and ranks the presence of political parties, political party leaders and key election management bodies in Ghana on social media based on their followers and level of engagement on Facebook and Twitter. Generally, the report shows that political actors in Ghana have increased their use of social media ahead of the 2016 general elections. The flurry of politically minded social media activity hadn't gone unnoticed, even before Penplusbytes's report. Ghana's Inspector General of Police John Kudalor hinted in May 2016 that Ghanaian authorities might consider  shutting down social media platforms  during the December 7 elections to "maintain peace". Following a public debate among major stakeholders after his statement, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama  declared  on Augus...