The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), held a high-level academia-based launch of the Ghana Statistical Service -StatsBank. The event was also used to launch “Hackathon” a competition for university students which is a partnership between the GSS and the Danmarks Statistik (Denmark Statistics).
The Hackathons are being hosted by the KNUST, the University of Ghana (U.G.), the University of Cape Coast (U.C.C), and the University for Development Studies. The Hackathon aims to raise awareness of the GSS StatsBank and to promote the use of census data for policy-relevant research. It is about innovation and exploration with unique opportunities for mentorship, collaboration, and team-building skills for students.
Launching the StatsBank and Hackathon on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, stated that the synergy between academia and public institutions is fundamental to the progress of the nation. He further stated that KNUST is committed to creating and sustaining an environment that fosters and fortifies such collaborations. “In doing so, we aim to facilitate innovation, encourage research endeavours, and enhance the problem-solving acumen of our esteemed faculty and students,” he added. Professor Owusu-Dabo thanked the GSS for recognising KNUST for its provision of exceptional quality education and also for selecting KNUST as a participant in the competition. He indicated that the StatsBank, enriched with all data from the Ghana Statistical Service, including the 2021 Population and Housing Census and Macroeconomic indicators, offers an extraordinary opportunity to steer positive change through research and policy formulation. He said the university communities stand to benefit immensely from this repository and are saved the resources that go into collecting data. He revealed that KNUST would want to formalise engagements with the GSS for a mutually beneficial collaboration with a signed memorandum of understanding.
The Deputy Director of the KNUST School of Graduate Studies (SGS), Professor Michael Poku-Boansi, said the planning and sustainability management of national development goals depends on a reliable, easily accessible, and credible database. The GSS offers the most comprehensive and reliable repository of data and seeks collaboration with universities and other stakeholders to help Ghana on the part of data collection for national development. The Deputy Director of the SGS continued that launching of the StatsBank platform, therefore, is to create awareness for researchers and students to help bridge the gap between data of the GSS and teaching/ research activities in universities across the country. Professor Poku-Boansi urged all to share, make use of, and help maintain the success of the StatsBank.
Presenting an overview of the Data-User Centred Products, the Government Statistician of the Republic of Ghana, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, stated that, in our bid to solve complex and the systemic nature of our developmental challenges, we need to know that the perceptive approach to solving challenges confronting our development needs to change. According to him, the only way is to foster a relationship with the industry and hope that such engagement leads to the signing of an MoU between GSS and KNUST. This also means moving away from getting undergraduate students to collect data and to focus on graduate students, to help develop our microdata dissemination policy across all government ministries, departments, and agencies. Professor Kobina Annim explained that the essence of this microdata dissemination policy is limitless, cost-saving, helps consolidate data and will help us address the complexities and systemic nature of developmental issues. He appealed to university management to focus their research on deprived communities in their respective regions for development.
He continued that the GSS continuously explores innovative methods to engage data users, aiming to maximise the value of the data and statistics in its possession. Recognising that different users require diverse statistical products, they introduce new avenues to interact with GSS data: the StatsBank, Digital Census Atlas, Rasterised Data and Microdata Access. He therefore encouraged all to visit the GSS websites to access their products.
Data Scientists from the GSS, Simon Tichutab Onilimor, Peter Yeltume Mwinlaaru, Dora Boadi and Selaseh Akaho demonstrated the use of the StatsBank.
The occasion was used to award winners of the Hackathon and their mentors or judges. The winner of the Hackathon was the Data Need Team who took home a sum of Five thousand Ghana Cedis, Plaques, and certificates. Team Carina was second and received two thousand Ghana Cedis. Team Landa took the third prize of one thousand cedis, plaques and certificates. Dr. (Mrs.) Aurelia Offei, Dr. Degraft E. Johnson Owusu Ansah, Simon Tichutab Onilimor, Peter Yeltume Mwinlaaru, Dora Boadi and Selaseh Akaho were all recognised and awarded for their contributions to the Hackathon.