Technology

State needs simple security tech with immediate gains

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Taxpayers will spend another Sh1 billion to run the national surveillance system built by Safaricom to offer security in Nairobi and Mombasa cities. FILE PHOTO | NMG

The recent adverts running in the press painting a picture of the possibilities once the government installs a world-class surveillance system have drawn mixed reactions.

Some say it is an “overkill knee-jerk reaction” with the makings of a white elephant. Others are resigned, unable to grasp how the system will work and frankly not concerned as the immediate “benefit” is lost to them.

Adoption of technology is a challenge across both the public and private sectors. The rollout of technology must be well thought out with the public kept in the loop on expectations, benefits and timelines.

Akin to weaning a baby, government must ensure that the use of simple, easily digestible technology with immediate benefits and gentle learning curves take precedence in service delivery.

Let’s look at some key considerations:

Usability: What you do not understand, you will probably not use. Instead, you will form unfounded perceptions and get excuses not to use the technology.

Usefulness: A function of service design, usefulness ensures repeated activation leading to the creation of ambassadors who will hopefully tell all and sundry about the benefits accrued from employing the use of the tech.

Identification of a low hanging benefit is critical as a future promise amid a difficult present is a hard sell.

Ubiquity: Where possible, the flavour and form of experience should be uniform. Fragmentation is expected and, therefore, user experience should degrade gracefully without compromising the service quality greatly.

Availability: Services riding on the back of technology must have high availability rates with tear-free mitigation should a curve ball be served.
I shudder at our state of preparedness as we move into the cashless society as pushed by government.

Many have already experienced the inconvenience of an ATM going offline, or a card swipe at the supermarket failing to go through. Now imagine an outage on the mass transit’s payment system.

If the above are not built into every technological recipe, starting from the simple to the complex, chances of achieving scale and sustainability, even on government-led initiatives will be difficult.

Buy-in requires clear articulation of value, transparent interfacing and seamless interaction.

Mr Njihia is CEO of Symbiotic Twitter - @mbuguanjihia