The Ghanaian Academic and Research Network (GARNET) hosted a successful 2023 Conference at the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), where the community discussed matters of common interest to Ghana’s research and education fraternity. The theme was: “Overcoming the challenges of building digital scholarly infrastructure for the research and education community in Ghana”. Speaking at the opening of the Conference, the Vice Chancellor for UHAS, Prof. Lydia Aziato, charged GARNET and its community to continue demonstrating the NREN’s value to the top hierarchy of academic and research institutions to court their support. The Board Chair of GARNET, Professor Clifford Nii Boi Tagoe, said with the contribution of GARNET in the areas of advanced digital services and applications, the future of Ghana’s education system is bright. While speaking on the sub-theme “Digital Infrastructure for Scholarly Publishing in Ghana: Challenges and Opportunities”, panel members highlighted the need to take pragmatic steps to enhance the delivery of quality education through investment and implementation of modern digital infrastructure. They stressed the need to bridge the gap between traditional and digital publishing platforms in the Ghanaian publishing environment. Dr Evans Takyi, Acting Head of Compliance for Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, urged participants to develop a knowledge transfer and collaboration culture to enhance the spirit of innovation among the GARNET community. Dr Venant Palanga, the Board Chair of WACREN, commended the GARNET community for working hard to model an active NREN in the WACREN region. Preceding the Conference was a three-day workshop on ‘Campus Network Design and Operations’. Facilitators shared best practices, trends and addressed the challenges and opportunities encountered in designing and managing campus network infrastructure.
