The Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful have warned Public sector heads that they risk losing their jobs if they fail to connect to the smart workplace common platform by January 2, 2022.
She urged Public sector heads not to use personal emails for government businesses, describing the act as unacceptable.
Speaking at the Technology Breakfast Meeting with public sector executives in Accra, Tuesday, November 1, 2022, she stated that officials who do not comply with the directive will lose their job.
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She indicated that the move is aimed at protecting the country’s security as well as institutional memories.
“We will start by ensuring that all heads of institutions in the public sector connect to a common official email platform.
“Public sector heads of departments who do not comply with this directive by January, next year risk losing their jobs,” the minister warned.
Please let me repeat: it will not be acceptable to use personal emails to do official government business from next year,” she added.
The key public infrastructure, being operated by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA), is a security solution that will help agencies in the public sector encrypt government data in storage or transit for protection.
The smart workplace platform provides all government agencies, such as ministries, departments and agencies, with an email system, a calendaring system, Microsoft teams for conferencing, Microsoft office suite and other collaborative tools.
The platform has automated government back-end processes for memos, leave management, correspondent management (intra and inter agencies), requisition management, visitors log management, among other processes.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the measure was the only way to enhance effectiveness and transparency and reduce corruption in the public sector.
It will also ensure continuity at the workplace and track official correspondence work trail in the public sector.
The Director-General of NITA, Richard Okyere-Fosu, said the country had faced a surge in cyber incidents as reliance on ICT increased.
“These attacks have affected various sectors of the economy, including energy, telecommunications, banking and finance, all causing further disruptions to the delivery of essential services,” he said.
He said the smart workplace platform was, therefore, expected to combat cyber crime and provide dedicated platforms for correspondence and communications in the public sector.
He explained that the infrastructure provided digital signatures, secured websites and prevented fake issued government documents such as permits, certificates, cards, visas and passports.
“This platform is able to learn and report the activities of hackers even before they are successful and provide you with tools to prevent breaches,” Mr Okyere-Fosu said.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful said the government would support NITA to regulate the information and communications technology (ICT) sector effectively, starting with the public sector.
She cautioned users and managers of the system to be guided by standards and specified operating protocols to minimize risks such as cyber attacks, data loss, breaches and leakages and system outages.