Shoki Kandjimi
Innovators from Kayogona village of the Rundu Rural constituency comprising of four youth, developed a GovAlert application to disseminate pertinent government information to the community.
GovAlert is a free mobile application to the public that will see government ministries and agencies disseminating information such as tenders, vacancies, water shortage, and electrical outages notifications. The group will be responsible for administering the app while the government will have exclusive rights to issue information on the platform.
Andrew Festus, Wynand Pypers, Frolinus Da Rocha and Jacobs Remeres got together in 2021 and used their skills to make a difference in the community by creating a platform where the government and local authorities can disseminate crucial information to the
public.
According to the group, the government is faced with the challenge of communicating pertinent information with the public on time.
“We want to create a central space online where people can just access any information that government has to share,” Remeres said.
They further referred to situations where residents are not informed about planned water interruptions or power outages, saying that this has affected many people negatively, hence they saw the need to develop an app that will inform the nation.
“It has been a struggle finding consistent good information. It’s very often that you don’t know when the power goes off. We feel that if we have a central space, it is going to solve the issue,” Remeres noted.
Da Rocha, echoed the same sentiments, noting that information is one of the greatest forms of security. He believes that the more people are informed, the more they are safer and well prepared for any incident that might occur.
The young innovators used two solar panels, batteries, a personal computer and the internet to develop the app despite the unstable internet connectivity in Kayegona where they are based.
According to them, electricity and network interruptions were a challenge, therefore they decided to rely on solar energy. The former learners of Rundu Christian School where they met, maintained that they would like to keep their project green.
“We are trying to take an initiative to go green by keeping our project as green as possible, thereby preserving the environment,” Da Rocha said.
Currently, the GovAlert app is only available on smartphones, however, the group claims that they have a system for people without smartphones in rural areas. The system will allow people with no smartphones to use an Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) code to access government information. This will, however, be implemented once funding becomes available.
According to Festus, the software developer, they plan on integrating the system and allowing the government to upload information, which is then disseminated to all subscribers of the USSD platform. Festus added the group needs a stable internet connection in their area because currently, the internet in Kayegona is not reliable to operate and dish out information.
Moreover, the innovators need computer software and more solar panels for electricity to upgrade their setup. Da Rocha further added that they would also like to work with the local government in the Kavango East region to test the effectiveness of the app for both parties and the public. The youthful innovators envision themselves establishing an African mega technological company.
“Our vision is to create a sustainable and social alternative to Facebook and Amazon to establish the first African mega tech company,” Remeres said.
They called on investors to assist their start-up with funding and exposure so that they can roll out their project to other parts of the country.