By Yero S. Bah
Since the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in the world, people from all nations are increasingly utilizing technology and technological services to get things done. Technology “makes all sense” when workers from both public and private sectors were asked to stay at home, but also work from home in these dreadful times because of the coronavirus.
For so long, people have been using technology to socialize and strengthen ties that bind them together, especially in this coronavirus pandemic, despite the challenges posed by the global bug.
Gambians are beginning to appreciate technology and all its importance in the lives and livelihoods of people. Due to this, Mansa Banko Online had a remote interview with the Managing Director of Linktech, Mr. Biran Sey, and Mr. Omar Jarju, a Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Linktech Company- a Gambian-based technology solutions firm.
Managing Director Sey informed that the company started with the aim of helping companies, businesses and government departments to increase access to information, productivity, efficiency and sharing by creating online platforms and tech-Apps that Gambians could use to ease down their transactions in real-time. He noted that such services could reduce the manual workload and confusions at workplaces, adding this helps in safeguarding vital information.
MD Sey held that his company “is unique” because they are client-oriented, and also build long lasting partnerships as they offer numerous ITC solutions and services to their customers.
The Linktech Company’s senior official intimated that, in this coronavirus pandemic, technology is considered to be the only violable option for workers to get things done in their various companies and organizations.
But he posited that Gambians need to be sensitized on the importance of technology and all its potentialities in making the lives of people easier, faster and better. He argued that if things were digitalized in the country, it would have been easier for works to continue despite the pandemic.
“Even transportation, trade and businesses could utilize technology to run businesses and digitize our economy,” said MD Sey.
Speaking to this online medium, Chief Technology Officer Jarju also echoed that the pandemic came as a surprise to many people, and that no one ever thought that people would be working from home in 2020.
He stated that technology could be used by third world countries like the Gambia to advance development. Maintaining it’s the path that the globe is moving towards, Jarju charged that the Gambia must move with the rest of the world in {the field of} technology.
The Chief Technology Officer believes that, the tech infrastructure in the Gambia needs real improvements and upgrading to meet with services, noting that government institutions are still lagging behind knowing most departments don’t have tech platforms to facilitate access to real time public information on their websites.
The technology solutions firm co-founder pointed out that the world becomes a “global village” thanks to technology and all the social media platforms which the Gambia could capitalize on to develop faster than expected.
According to him, the government of the Gambia doesn’t offer opportunities to Gambian tech businesses. His words, “Our officials prefer giving contracts to non-Gambian solution tech companies than locally-established IT solutions companies.”
He remarked that Internet facilities are poor and providers must compromise with customers by providing cheaper and faster services and products. Jarju averred that the Internet in the Gambia is so slow and needs serious improvements. He justified that with the threats of coronavirus in place, people need to embrace technology and technological services to get things done, despite the lockdown and emergency measures taken by governments globally, including that of the Gambia.
“Now is the time to leverage on technology to fill the gaps since there are public departments without current and up-to-date information sharing platforms in the Gambia,” Linktech Company’s Jarju underlined.
Applauding young people in the Gambia for exploring and making giant strides in the areas of technology and service provisions, he also vouched that young people are doing “just fantastic jobs” in these areas.
Jarju divulged that their Company has approached some public institutions and departments but at the end of the day, “government agencies always award contracts to foreigners” rather than Gambians. He claimed that such contracts never last long because most of the materials and infrastructures don’t belong to government agencies.
Chief Tech Officer Jarju continued, “We need the government of the Gambia to support local tech companies to help them grow just like other foreign companies started.” He indicated that Linktech is an ambitious company but they always like to start from the grassroots of the infrastructures needed to have a solid foundation for their services.
He shared with this medium the current technology platforms that people could use during the lockdown period, notably Microsoft Team, Slack, Zoom, and Chrome Remote Desktop as “it works with other tools” such as mobile phones that individuals, businesses, offices and companies could use to get their works done.
Explaining that all the above tech-Apps have interesting features such as video calls, text messaging services and files sharing, Jarju encouraged that employees who work from home could easily utilize them during this coronavirus menace.
Linktech solutions, as this medium gathered, was established in 2012 but registered in 2014 to offer professional ITC solutions to businesses such as start-ups companies and public and private sectors in the Gambia.
The company creates Web, Mobile and Desktop Applications for clients from across all ITC boundaries.
