The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
The prototype will demonstrate how to digitally manage, monitor, track, and trace infected people
| THE INDEPENDENT | Telecom firm, Roke Telkom, has been awarded a grant worth Shs100 million under Phase 3 of the National Support Initiatives Program.
The grant from the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance will enable Roke Telkom to adapt and localize the Cogniware Insights system software and the entire analytics process cycle for the Ugandan market.
“Our team is honored to qualify as a beneficiary with a grant award amount of Shs 100 million. We are looking forward to expanding on our innovation initiatives with further localization for deployment and use in Uganda and the region as a whole,” Michael Mukasa, the Chief Commercial Officer at Roke Telkom said.
He added that “In the fight against dangerous rapidly spreading infections such as Covid-19, Ebola, MERS, or SARS, the best strategy is to suppress the spread of the infection as quickly as possible,” he said adding, “We will develop a prototype with circumscribed data to promote and demonstrate the innovation to key Ministries and stakeholders. Through ingestion of sample data, the prototype will demonstrate how to digitally manage, monitor, track, and trace infected people.”
“The endorsement and recognition of the Cogniware Insights systems software by the Ministry of ICT conveys the important work that is happening behind the scenes with home-grown firms and their partners within the telecommunications sector,” Mukasa, said.
Roke Telkom will partner with FSJ Solutions, a Danish company whose key focus is to bring critical skills and solutions from around the world to areas where they are in short supply.
Mauricia Kayizi, the Head of Product and Business Intelligence at Roke Telkom said they appreciate the ‘support and the opportunity to advance ourselves through the lens of Uganda’s health sector.’
“For this project, we will be working hand-in-hand with FSJ Solutions to advance learning of local teams and promote skills transfer as a way to build capacity and knowledge on how to use the software that will play a huge role in reducing further spread of Infections both now and in the future of our country,” Kayizi said.
Of the 918 applications that were submitted, only, 45 applications including Roke Telkoms’ were selected to receive the grant award. Roke, through this grant, will help in fulfilling National Development Plan (NDP) III ICT initiatives which are a part of Uganda’s Vision 2040.
According to the NDP III Report, under the Digital transformation section, one of the objectives is to enhance the usage of ICT research, innovation, and development through promoting supporting local manufacturing and assembly of ICT devices and software.
Over the next 5 years, Uganda will focus on promoting the use of ICT across all sectors of the economy through; deployment of secure, integrated, and cross-sector infrastructure, developing and promoting the usage of e-services, ensuring standardization and interoperability of systems, supporting innovation, and commercialization of ICT products, support development and uptake of emerging technologies including; Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies, and automation of end-to-end government business and service delivery processes.
