Ramp up the use of these tech tools

Drone

This picture taken on April 4, 2020, shows a drone used by police to control people and to ask them to respect social distances at a shopping boulevard in Heerlen, the Netherlands.

Photo credit: AFP

What you need to know:

  • Can we include drones as one option for swiftly transporting blood from blood banks to remote health facilities when needed to save lives?
  • Drones can bypass obstacles to deliver examination papers to schools, often cut off from the rest of the country.

Twelve wrenching months are over, and here comes 2021. Afflicted by the pandemic, we adjusted our lives, learnt important lessons, and tested tools to help us cope with the knotty situation.

Although we are not out of the woods yet, as we kick-start 2021, can the leaders commit to scaling up tools, some of which were amplified by the pandemic, and use them to tackle chronic problems besetting our country?

Our country's infrastructure is frayed, especially in rural areas, thereby hampering the ability to provide essential services to those who need it most.

During the pandemic, many countries facing similar challenges turned to drones to transport back and forth Covid-19 test kits and blood samples. Drones are fast, and they easily overcome infrastructural challenges to deliver much needed essential, light-weight supplies.

Given that we will be required to vaccinate millions of people within a short time to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, can the government consider using drones to send Covid-19 vaccines and allied supplies to remote corners of the country?

Can we include drones as one option for swiftly transporting blood from blood banks to remote health facilities when needed to save lives?

Drones can bypass obstacles to deliver examination papers to schools, often cut off from the rest of the country.

How about using them to fly over the slums and other densely populated places to broadcast important messages about health, security, or other emergencies when needed?

Drones and robots

Can we make drones part of the standard protocol for connecting remote areas to life-saving supplies and critical services?

Robots have become critical tools during this pandemic period, especially in hospitals, to deliver food to admitted Covid-19 patients. They became a safe means of taking food and other supplies to people in quarantine centres.

Robots have long been used in delicate situations such as sweeping places suspected to have explosives or rescue people trapped in collapsing buildings or engulfed in fire. Can we ramp up their use, increase efficiency, and save lives?

Nairobi and other major cities are awash with surveillance cameras, but those cameras' full benefit is yet to be realised. Many people are ambivalent about whether they are functional because of instances when a crime is committed in the face of a camera, only to find that the tape was not rolling.

But for our country to make the best use of these technologies, we need to create awareness and build skills.

Institutions of learning should review their digital technology curriculum to ensure that the skills they impart align with the fast-changing market demands. Antiquated skills and teaching methods will only spawn a society that spectates when the rest of the world is forging forward.

Thankfully, our youthful population, imbued with boundless creativity and energy, is ever on the ready— let's tap this genius. Happy New Year! 

Wambugu is an Informatician. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @samwambugu2