In an attempt to upscale science reportage in Ghana for economic development, a Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) workshop was organised in Ghana by the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Lab (RAIL) of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and was funded by the British High Commission.
A pitch price of £1,000 was awarded to the top ten journalists to produce impactful science related stories in Ghana.
These Ghanaian journalists visited the Imperial College, London, one of the leading universities in the world, as part of efforts to sharpen their skills and enhance science communication in Ghana.
Welcoming the team of journalists from Ghana at Imperial White City Campus, Prof. Hugh Brady, the President of Imperial College, indicated that the university had opened a hub in Ghana to deepen collaboration between the two, in areas of research, technology, education and entrepreneurship.
He expressed optimism about Ghana’s Artificial Intelligence possibilities and potentials, saying“We’re very excited that the Imperial-Schmidt AI Fellows Programme allows us to partner with Ghana.”
Responding to questions from the journalists, Prof Brady, who used to be an active Nephrologist in the years gone by, noted that the advent of AI could evolve the means at which new ideas, content, and solutions are accessed in Ghana.
“AI is going to be one of the great democratisers of research and I am very excited about the potential and possibilities for Ghana.”
On national development, the President of Imperial College, which is ranked number one in Europe and ranked number two in the world respectively, mentioned that Ghana’s universities could contribute to economic growth.
Highlighting how Imperial College prioritises research, Prof Brady noted that AI was one of its big strengths, adding that the university has around 1,000 researchers working on various aspects of AI.
At the meeting, Prof. Brady walked the media through how Imperial had evolved over the years with a tradition of science,technology and innovation as its bedrock.
He emphasised that Imperial College’s objective was to produce ideas that solve societal challenges, adding that they intend to produce students that are job creators and not the vice versa.
During the visit, Imperial College officials shared some of the environmental research the university had carried out in Africa.
Dr. Leon Barron, from Imperial College’s Environmental Research Group, took the media personnel through some research works, with the aim of deepening the understanding of the sources, risks and impacts, emerging and new chemical contaminants on environmental and public health.
The Ghanaian journalists also toured the state of the art environmental lab of Imperial Collage, to catch a glimpse of how environmental research is carried out.
The media personnel were further taken to the Polymaterial lab, which is based at the I-HUB. This lab works on biodegradable plastic technology, which focuses on what they call “fugitive plastic” – waste material that is not usually recycled.
Prior to the meeting in London, Professor Majid Ezzati, Academic Director for Imperial Global Ghana met the media and briefed them on a number of research works which had been conducted in Ghana.
The Hub was launched in November 2024 with a commitment to supporting hundreds of academics and entrepreneurs in West Africa by strengthening collaboration on research, technology, education and entrepreneurship between West Africa and the UK.
