Republic of Ghana


National ICT Policy and Plan Development Committee



DEPLOYMENT AND EXPLOITATION OF ICTs IN GOVERNMENT MINISTRIES
AND PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATIONS

The Distribution of the Size of Government Ministries and Public Sector Organizations

The survey of the government ministries and public sector organizations and institutions indicated that the majority of them (accounting for 51%) have less than 100 employees; with 28% of them having less than 50 employees.

Comparing the public sector organizations to the government ministries, shows in table 1.1 that: 35% of the public sector organizations have less than 100 employees, while a higher percentage of 67% of the government ministries have less than 100 employees. On the whole, the government ministries are more likely to be of a smaller size compared to the public sector organizations. For instance, while only 26% of the public sector organizations have size less than 50 employees, the comparable figure for the government ministries is 29%.

The study shows that the public sector organizations are on the whole, larger than the government ministries and it is illustrated in the figure below. For example, while 48% of the public sector organizations have staff of 500 and above, the comparable figure for the government ministries is 8%.

Regional Distributions of Government Ministries and Public Sector Organizations/Establishment

The majority of the organizations /establishment involved in the study are located in the Greater Accra Region. About 74% of the organizations are based in the Greater Accra region with 26% nation wide.
Sectorial-wise, 96% of the government ministries are based in Accra with 4% having branches and offices nationwide. Majority of the public sector organizations, 52%, are based in the Greater Accra Region, mainly in Accra. It is however important to note that some of these public sector organizations although most of them are based in Accra, do have branches and offices nationwide. This is illustrated in table and figure below.

The Degree Of Deployment Of Computer Systems In Government Ministries And Public Sector Organizations

The survey of the government ministries and public sector organizations contacted indicated that 100% of them are computerized. Comparative analysis indicates 100% of the public sector organizations have computer systems in place; the corresponding figure for the government ministries is 100%.

On the type of computer systems installed in the government ministries and public sector organizations, the evidence as per the study indicated that 43% of all the organizations have stand-alone computer systems; with 40% having Local Area Networks (LANs); 6% with organizational backbone network systems and 11% have Wide Area Networks (WANs) in place. The organizations with Wide Area Networks are predominantly the large ones with nationwide operations. This is illustrated in the table and figure below.

Examining the computer systems deployment figures on sectorial basis, shows that a higher percentage of government ministries have stand-alone systems compared to those having Local Area Networks (LANs). The reverse is the case of the public sector organizations. The public sector organizations have a higher proportion of networked organizations than stand-alone computer systems organizations.

Also while 10% of the government ministries have Wide Area Networks in place the corresponding figure for the public sector organizations is 13%. The relatively low percentage of government ministries and public sector organizations with Wide Area Networks is an indication that not many public sector organizations and government ministries (with nationwide branches and offices) have national networks in place.

The Level Of Computer Usage By The Personnel of Government Ministries & Public Sector Organizations

The study on the degree of usage of computer to support the activities and operations of government ministries and public sector organizations shows in the table below that: about 28% of the organizations reported having below 10% of their staff using computer within the organization. About 27% also reported that a quarter of their staff uses computers within the organization and 24% reported that half of their staff uses computers to support their work.
In Only 2% of the organizations have all their staff equipped with computers for their work within the organization.

Sectorially, while 33% of the government ministries have only about a quarter of their staff using computers; the corresponding figure for the public sector organizations is 22%.
The public sector organizations on the whole have more of their staff using computers as compared to the government ministries. For example, while 4% of the public sector organizations reported having all their staff using computers to do their work, none of the government ministries have all their staff equipped with computers.
On the whole, the survey showed that the public sector organizations workers are more likely to use computers than their counterparts in the government ministries. The figure below gives the graphical representation of the data.