I had the pleasure of serving as a mentor to some participants in the recently held 2030 NDP Hackathon organised by the State Information Technology Agency. The creativity of participants further showed that we do not lack ideas to solve problems in this country, but opportunities to do so. It also reminded me of my biggest bugbear, of government and many large companies failing to take advantage of technology to not only improve their offerings, but deliver services.

I do, however, understand the reluctance by government and some private companies in automating functions traditionally performed by people. In my professional career spanning more than two decades, I have seen how IT functions in many organisations I had been exposed to, struggling to deliver on promises made to business. Common among those problems were budget and timelines overruns. IT leaders responsible for jointly directing those initiatives with business leaders would often cite unforeseen circumstances as one of many reasons for failure to deliver.

I am thus not surprised seeing many organisations reluctant or failing to introduce more technology in automating some functions and digitising their environment. The increasing notoriety of IT functions in overpromising and underdelivering is, but one of the reasons we still see government departments and other companies still relying on solutions causing significant inconvenience to consumers and beneficiaries of their services. By Nimroth Gwetsa, 30 November 2018.

Gone are the days automation and digitisation cost a fortune and required highly specialised multinational and multi-disciplines teams. Today, there are many low-cost, low-code and small development team development and integration technologies available to assist organisations automate, digitise and modernise their operations rapidly. The beauty of some tools is, unlike traditional mainstream OEMs offerings, these do not “lock in” the buyer to their technology offerings. The technology acquirer is free to switch to their preferred technology without losing their base (source code).

The most important feature of these technologies is the ease with which business functions can be automated and digitised to take advantage of web and mobile technologies. They also integrate much easier to other legacy technologies commonly used by users. They offer seamless integration and can be tailored to modernise any aspect of the front, middle or back-office technologies of existing solutions. Many such low-code development software can be freely used without delay to provide a fully functioning web and mobile application. In that regard, there is truly no valid reason for any IT leader failing to explore such technologies to test their effectiveness in modernising offerings for the improvement of services delivered to consumers and beneficiaries.

The “ground” for using digital solutions by all consumers despite class, is already fertile. Yes, I understand that data is still expensive for many and digital solutions may not be the answer to everyone, but I strongly believe digitisation will actually improve the delivery of services.

Think for a minute about this. Poor people, some unemployed, wake very early in the morning in time to catch the first public transport making rounds in the location, to visit and queue at government offices for services. Many poor people, with no resources for refreshments, wait there almost the entire day and are sometimes not even served because of the long queues, cumbersome processes and one hindrance or two. Ask anyone who has been to a Home Affairs office to relate their experiences so you could appreciate some difficulties people face.

I do not even have to outline the benefits of automation and digitisation on their impact in speeding up the delivery of services and enabling consumers be served rapidly and in large numbers, save to highlight the impact of these improvements on the delivery of services, particularly to the poor.

If organisations digitise, they will immediately reduce the footprint of “the haves” from physically visiting service delivery centres, thus creating more space for those without digital resources to be served quickly. The “haves” can service themselves through the “ether” and there is no need for concern about security, authentication and refutability of transactions. We have gone past those concerns now. Even the poor receive money through mobile phones or SMS. And these devices can be easily snatched from them to steal their money, yet none of these security threats stop anyone from transacting through their mobile devices.

Manufacturers of mobile phones built-in sophisticated technological capabilities on these devices that many users, application and service providers are not yet taking advantage of. The little handsets in your hand have technologies that can be used to tell if you have been in an accident or have dropped it. We are not even talking about other basic features such as those for identifying one’s location within couple meters of accuracy, one’s health vitals or biometric identification. The discussion of these features shows that concerns about authentication, refutability and others are not “real concerns” as there are many features that can be enabled to eliminate as much doubt as possible.

Now, imagine the transport department ending the need for the display of physical licence disks on motor vehicles, but allowing digitial renewals and storage of information. When stopped at a roadblock, a traffic police officer can simply run the driver’s Identity Document or vehicle registration through a connected mobile device and immediately receive feedback of the vehicle and driver being licensed and advised of the respective expiry dates. Government would be able to eliminate some systems and infrastructure with such a simple move and save on cost of technology ownership. Those savings can then be reinvested on delivering other much-needed services.

In another example, imagine entities within the justice cluster also eliminating as much paper as possible but introducing and relying on digital records to conduct their businesses. Perhaps courts will function more efficiently than they do now. Morning traffic congestion will ease from having less need for courier services delivering documents around the city. Information can be made available instantly and one can imagine how matters can possibly be resolved quickly knowing that there is no excuse for crucial official documents becoming lost.

South Africa has many progressive laws promoting digital solutions that must now be put to good use. Organisations should confront their fears and concerns and look for ways that automation and digitisation can be introduced with less disruption to regular services. Even mechanical companies such wheel fitment centres, are more adept in technology than many organisations whose core functions, especially operations, are enabled by technology.

If a tyre fitment centre like Tiger Wheel and Tyre can always be looking for better and more efficient ways of improving services to motorists through their extensive technology innovation, what stops the South African Post Office, for example, from transforming itself into a digital company? The issue, as mentioned before, is not about lack of suitable money-saving solutions to enable organisations improve their environment, it is about a lack of vision by some in leadership positions to effect such changes.

The next time you are horrified by your inability to easily cancel your mobile phone insurance or telecommunications company contract or your medical aid gap cover, reflect on the leadership in that organisation. And if you have any stock (shares) invested with them, consider your next investment move and make the wise decision.

Perhaps it is time we consumers begin to flex our influence muscle and force change for the better.