By Samuel AKAPULE
Government Statistician Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim has underscored the need for effective collaboration between Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and universities to help address developmental challenges confronting the country.
GSS is not established to service government alone, but also partner with other stakeholders in helping fight against corruption as well as ensuring accountability and transparency, he said.
He added that there is revolutionary change and against this background GSS has generated rich data and developed many data apps – including the GSS StatsBank online, which contains relevant databanks to solve societal problems.
He stated: “There are over 300 million unique statistics generated by GSS which can be tapped and complemented with other sources for research. Therefore, lecturers in the country’s various universities must make good of them to promote development”.
Prof. Annim made the call when GSS – in collaboration with Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU), Upper East Region – organised a programme dubbed ‘2024 Statistical Data Hackathon Competition’ at Sumbrungu, the university’s main campus.
The hackathons aim to raise awareness of the GSS StatsBank and promote usage of census data for policy-relevant research. It requires teams to compete for 36 hours on developing an innovative statistical product, primarily using census data from the StatsBank.
Students of BTU were put into groups – namely teams Lucky, Fishe, Golsa, Akukula and Jaguar – to compete for the occasion and undertook research in the areas of Consumers Producers Index; Poverty Hotspots in the North; Neonatal Mortality; Drought in the North; and Gender Equality, using the Ghana Statistical Service online databank. They showcased products during the competition session.
The occasion, under the theme ‘Unlocking Data Potential: Innovate for Impact’, also attracted Heads of Department, lecturers, students, assembly members and chiefs and people of the area
Speaking at the event, Regional focal person for the 2024 Hackathon, Dr. Benjamin Apam, explained that the Hackathon’s purpose is not only about competition but also creating a platform for collaboration and learning – where students have opportunities to engage deeply with the GSS StatsBank, mentors, colleague students in different fields and GSS staff.
According to him, through the Statistical Data Hackathon Competition, students explored how integrated datasets can be leveraged to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and world today.
He expressed happiness with developments by the students, commending them for exhibiting their potential to contribute in sustainable development.
The finalists were Jaguar for 2nd runner-up; Akukula for 1st runner-up; and Golsa was the winner.
They were provided with certificates and GH¢2,000, GH¢3,000 and GH¢5,000 respectively.
They will also represent the university at the Technical Universities Hackathon at a national level competition. Also in an attendance was the board-chair of GSS, Dr. Grace Badiako.
