A one-day summit geared towards enhancing the awareness of the usage of the internet to help Liberians when it comes to health services, and more opportunities for education, jobs, and entrepreneurship in the country has ended.
The summit, which took place recently at a resort in Monrovia, brought together professionals from the IT sector, academia, innovators, and the business community, as well as civil society organizations.
The day-long summit, organized under the auspices of Monrovia Technology in collaboration with the West Africa ICT Action Network with support from Meta, formally Facebook, took place on the theme: “Future of the Internet in Liberia.”
Peterking Quaye, Executive Director of West Africa ICT Action Network, who provided an overview of the summit, said the internet has been revolutionized in providing unprecedented opportunities for people around the world to connect and express themselves and continues to transform the global economy.
Quaye observed that private and public investment in digital solutions is bringing critical services by creating jobs and strengthening small and medium-sized businesses, which is enabling trade and services to build resilience to the shock.
“We must congratulate the telecom operators and the platform provided for coming to this particular event to also share their views. Let us remember that 3.6 billion people around the world are still not connected to the internet, mostly those living in rural areas and remote communities, which is why more reason to keep finding ways to connect everyone and everywhere, “he said.
In a special remark, the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), Edwina Zackpah, Commissioner, acknowledged the West Africa ICT Action Network and Meta for holding such a dialogue about issues affecting access, governance, and the use of the internet in the country.
She hopes that the forum will inform them as government officials to make some public policy, drive actions and create public awareness about how the internet can be leveraged to transform the lives of Liberians and grow our economy, thereby reshaping the future of our country.
Zackpah said the internet has been transformative for Liberia, as it has been for the rest of the global community since its advent about 15 years ago.
In his remarks, Posts and Telecommunication Minister, Cllr. Cooper Kruah, Sr., lauded the organizers for the valuable time they put into organizing such an important event, especially with the theme: “Future of the Internet in Liberia.”
He said over the years, Liberia has been engaged with international partners, civil society organizations, and the private sector in establishing a framework that will enhance inclusiveness in information sharing to engender social and economic empowerment.
Mr. Kruah added that the internet is changing and redefining every aspect of the lives of people, organizations, and countries, of which Liberia is no exception. It provides an unprecedented opportunity for people to freely communicate with ease and enables social-economic development.
