Around the world, youth are rapidly adopting innovative technologies to unleash their creative abilities in finding solutions to problems. Comparatively, the youth today are more involved with new technologies than any generation. The core of building technology and internet infrastructure is centered on their innovations and creative ideas.

Ghana comparably has a young age structure with approximately 57% of the population under the age of 25, there is, therefore, the need to redouble efforts for accessing technological tools, internet resources, and capacity building for youth to thrive in a digital economy and contribute to its advancement as one of the largest players in this new economy.

The fast-paced nature of the technological world requires constant reskilling and upskilling for the workforce to remain efficient and productive in various fields of which many young people are left out for reasons ranging from affordability, accessibility, policies, and the need to improve teaching methods which moves from theoretical teaching to more hands-on.

It is nonetheless important to mention efforts to present a community-based approach to skill development in Information Communication Technology (ICTs) by technology hubs and spaces that train youth entrepreneurs in identifying societal problems and guide them to develop technological solutions to these problems. Periodically, hubs review their procedures to restructure and stay relevant for the youth who engage in their activities. Most businesses churned out of the idea incubation from these hubs have proven to be beneficial not only for interfacing customers and users but play essential roles in growing Ghana’s economy.

A case in point of a local youth-led initiative that is attracting global attention to accelerate skills development for youth to participate and advance the digital economy is the Hacklab Foundation; which has announced partners for the entry of Twitter into the country and the situation of their Africa Headquarters in Ghana. Twitter’s interest in Ghana is reported to be based on democracy, free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, which Twitter advocates. Though this is commendable for the strides the country is making in the digital economy, there remain several untapped avenues for driving growth with technology with the power lying in the youth who are leading current technological advancement.

Modern economies are transforming from agricultural and industrial economies to information and knowledge-based economies. Such rapid transformation has had a significant impact on social, economic, political, and cultural development across the world. The rapidly advancing information and communications technologies (ICTs) help in addressing social and economic problems and offer opportunities for learning, skill, and career development. It is hence necessary to be well-positioned as a nation to partake and leverage these tools for growth.

This one-day conference under the theme: Developing Youth Skills to accelerate Ghana’s Digital Economy explores conversations on how youth can build skills and access resources which can translate to innovation and technological solutions to drive development.