Ghana's Communications and Digitalisation minister, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has inaugurated the Joint Cybersecurity Committee (JCC) to spearhead cybersecurity activities in order to achieve a secured and resilient digital economy.

In 2017, due to the cross-sectoral nature of cybersecurity, the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation thought it wise to have a Technical Working Group (TWG) to facilitate prompt responses and resolution of incidents which impact the security of digital applications, services and infrastructure as they increasingly digitise the country’s operations across all socio economic activities.

It was set up to provide institutional collaboration at the highest level to develop Ghana’s cybersecurity.

Due to the work of the TWG, the Cybersecurity Advisor and the National Cyber Security Centre, under the direction of the Ministry of Communications, the minister said her ministry made significant progress in cybersecurity development, placing Ghana 3rd on the African continent and 43rd globally in the latest Global Cybersecurity Index of the International Telecommunication Union with a score of 86.69% in 2020.

The JCC is established pursuant to section 13 of the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) to collaborate with the Cyber Security Authority and the sectors or institutions represented on the Committee for the implementation of relevant cybersecurity measures.

The President appoints the members of the Joint Cybersecurity Committee in consultation with the Authority as provided in Section 13(4) of Act 1038.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful congratulated all members of the JCC for their appointment as pioneer members of the Committee.

She urged them to familiarise themselves with their enabling legislation.

“Your appointment and the inauguration of the JCC is an important milestone in Ghana’s Cybersecurity development and we are hopeful that through your work, we will be able to address critical cybersecurity issues affecting the country, including the protection of critical information infrastructure, effective criminal justice response to cybercrimes, awareness creation among public sector officials, public-private sector collaboration and relevant international cooperation to make Ghana a truly cyber secured nation,” she told the committee members.