While acknowledging the government’s efforts in implementing various digital initiatives over the years, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako cautioned about potential threats if not managed effectively.

Speaking at a public lecture themed ‘Combating Threats to Sub-Regional Peace and Security: Prospects of the Civil Service,’ held as part of the events commemorating the 2024 Civil Service Week and the 2023 Awards Ceremony, Dr. Antwi-Boasiako stressed the significance of empowering civil servants with the requisite knowledge and skills to navigate the digital space securely.

“We also have some expectations at the ministries to improve the state of our cybersecurity. We call this cyber hygiene. How are we handling Government data? Now it’s not just the confidential memos that you keep in a confidential registry. But there are a lot of things that are being transmitted through e-mails, WhatsApp, and others. What is the state of protection?”

“There have been instances where senior directors of the ministry have shared passwords with partners and government information because they exchanged phones. You know there’s trust between them, therefore they can share their devices. But somebody without authorized access could see that information. People also leave government work; their laptops go away. It has a whole government, what…data information. These are some of the risks we have,” Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako said.