A nine-member steering committee with institutional reorientations to oversee the establishment of the National Cybersecurity Challenge (NCC) has been inaugurated.
The initiative, led by the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), is designed to empower children and young people to navigate the internet safely and responsibly.
The NCC is a Child Online Protection (COP) initiative introduced by the CSA in 2022.
It currently targets Senior High School students across all 16 regions in Ghana, in a competition to equip students with essential skills to navigate digital technology responsibly and confidently.
It also serves as a pipeline for grooming the next generation of cybersecurity experts.
The committee is chaired by Dr. Janet Ampadu Fofie, a former
Chairperson of the Public Services Commission (PSC).
Other members of the committee are Ms. Joyce Odame, UNICEF Ghana, Dr. Nana Kofi Annan, Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, Ms. Afua Brown-Eyeson, a Legal Practitioner, and
Ms. Awo Aidam Amenyah, Executive Director, Child Online Africa.
The rest are Mr. Alexander Sefah Boadu, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr. Fakor Disu, Ghana Education Service, Mr. Joseph Quaye, E-Crime Bureau and Mr. Alexander Oppong, CSA.
The inauguration in Accra was on the sidelines of a COP Stakeholder Coordination Meeting, which assembled stakeholders within the cybersecurity industry and child-based organisations.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, the Director-
General of CSA, said the committee was being entrusted with providing strategic direction, oversight, and leadership to the NCC.
He added that the committee was expected to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to implement measures that would ensure its sustainability and further widen its impact while ensuring that the project remained aligned with national cybersecurity and COP priorities.