How TECHNOLOGY took out the headache of Ghana’s 2020 election
image by Francis Kokoroko

Digital transformation is getting more trendy among policy-makers, economists, and industry leaders about its societal impact. We will all agree that for some time now, we have been in a new stage of transformation where corporations and countries are focused on equipping themselves with advanced technologies and new business models to catch up with the fast-changing world. The question is, is this digital transformation making a positive contribution to our society?

In my view, it is. Information Technology is playing an incredible role in making human lives easier. It has added value to society and has also been of great help in mitigating important issues, including public health, our environment and biodiversity, and democratic processes. A case in point is the crucial role it played in the just-ended election in Ghana.

As evident in the recent elections held on December 7, 2020, Information technology was used as a solution for many electoral hurdles, such as the creation of an accurate voter register, simplified voting and result tallying, faster transmission of election results, etc

Another example was the adoption of social media as a medium of campaigning by most political parties. The usually crowded rallies couldn’t be organized because of the COVID-19 pandemic that made such gatherings impossible. One could see adverts across social media channels of political parties trying to get their campaign message across. Social media was also used as a tool to promote peace. Hashtags such #Ghanaforpeace #peacefullelection2020 amongst others were created to preach peace.

Again, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana’s use of another biometric verification (facial recognition) method made the whole process even easier. It solved the thorny issue of manual verification when the thumbprint fails creating confusion amongst party observers This addressed the hustle people go through to vote, joining long queues, etc, a challenge which was prevalent in the previous election.

We can confidently say that Ghana passed yet another democratic test when it conducted what has been described as the best organized general elections in the country’s history with the help of digitalization and the use of modern technology.

With the way digitalization is helping solve major problems around the world, I see the future as promising. There is a need for everyone to be abreast with modern technology to fit in the digital future. With the introduction of technologies like Robotics and IOT, Data Analytics, Data Science, Digital Marketing, etc, we all can find a space within our interest to equip ourselves with the skills needed to fit in.

Written By

Imelda Badoe
['Niit Openlabs Ghana']
['Data Science', 'Election', 'Information Technology', 'Digitalization', 'Digital Transformation']