IT firm develops application to tackle social challenges

An Information Technology company, Open Hands has developed an application, `Open Hands Tech’, that can address social problems in the country, and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr Toluwanimi Adesiyan, the Director of the company, disclosed this on Tuesday to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Adesiyan said that the company was inspired to become indigenous because of the need to reduce poverty in Africa and work toward the achievement of the SDGs.

He said that Nigeria was a highly populated country where individuals, institutions, NGOs and the government were contributing their quota toward alleviating problems but resources were limited.

The director believed that the features of the app would enable people access social and basic needs like healthcare, address transport challenges, among others.

“Open Hands Tech has taken up the challenge of synergising the efforts of all these individual platforms.

“We are using technology to serve the most vulnerable with support and innovative solutions to their problems.

“Open Hands app platform provides real-time to people stranded; pertinent information on the location and availability of much-needed resources and solutions.

“It leverages on the capabilities that Artificial Intelligence technology provides by creating an all-inclusive application which acts as a primary access point for the provision of key resources to those in need.

“By using voice and text services, this application will serve as a lifeline assistance programme which provides users’ platform with a portal to resources and lifeline,” he said.

Adesiyan added that the application platform would include an android, iPhone app, which could be used on various manufactured devices and other mobile operating systems used by the programme.

The director said it, however, required funds to gather necessary data and engineer the voice, text interfaces that disseminate the information seamlessly.

He said the company was ready to partner with relevant organisations to enable it provide the needed information, resources and services to the needy.

Adesiyan, however, observed that a drawback for the application was that many Nigerians do not have access to the internet which could engender the usage of the application.

According to him, the company was engaging some network providers to allow the operations of the application without internet.

“We are trying to talk with network providers like the Glo network for the running of this app without data due to its life saving nature.

“When this is done, anybody can have it because it is cheap and user-friendly,” Adesiyan said.

He said that the app’s operation in the U.S. had easy navigation, low-cost data usage and found the social services closest to people that needed it.

Adesiyan said that the application was initially created in 2013 by a Nigerian ICT expert based in the U.S., Mr Joshua Omisore, and had been effective since 2015.