By Nana Appiah Acquaye, Accra, Ghana
Vodafone Ghana says it is partnering the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to launch a not-for-profit initiative aimed at using mobile-derived customer insights to make better predictions for sustainable development.
The partnership which will see Vodafone Ghana, Vodafone Group Foundation, GSS and Flowminder – a non-profit organisation come together is aimed at leading the way in using anonymised data to track trends in population movement. This is then analysed for purposes of decision-making for the health, agriculture and transportation sectors, among others.
According to officials from Vodafone Ghana, the partnership is one that will support Ghana to use valuable metrics in making better analyses and predictions for the greater good of all, and it also expected to help the country to better measure the Sustainable Development Goal indicators.
The Group External Affairs Head of Vodafone, Joakim Reiter told Biztecahafrica that the partnership is a move to support Ghana’s drive to undertake significant reforms to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.
“Mobile data is now dictating the pace by helping countries and organisations make better analyses and predictions and Ghana is in a unique position to become a trailblazer across the continent. Our partnership with the Statistical Service, Vodafone Foundation and Flowminder is one that will ultimately prove why data from mobile networks can become a force for the good of society.”
The Acting Government Statistician, Baah Wadieh, noted that how such an initiative will impact positively on the various social intervention programmes in the country.
“Our stock-in-trade is to produce big and relevant data that inures to the benefit of the country and its people. We have seen the opportunities and benefits of using Call Data Records to create transformation in many countries across the world and we are in no doubt that this initiative will transform how socially impacting interventions are made in Ghana.”
Under the partnership agreement, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) will take ownership of the project with data reports from Vodafone Ghana, whilst Flowminder will ensure an effective mechanism is in place to mine and analyse the information for significant public benefit. Ultimately, the Ghana government could look to engage more mobile networks to offer a greater pool of information for the country.
This not for profit initiative is a programme of the Vodafone Group Foundation’s Connecting for Good initiative and is also receiving generous funding from the Hewlett Packard Foundation.
