–President Ali announces; says advancements will enhance efficiency, transparency and further create a modern environment

THE government is partnering with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and international companies to continue to pursue the development of a one-card system in Guyana, similar to the Aadhaar card implemented by the Emiratis.

The card is just one of a number of measures the government is moving to implement in order to develop Guyana into a technologically-advanced space.

This was related by President Dr. Irfaan Ali on Tuesday, as he delivered remarks at the opening of the new Teleperformance location at Middle and Thomas Streets, South Cummingsburg, in down-town Georgetown.

“Very soon, we’ll be launching work that would drive everything on a data management platform; a lot of these developments came out of what is known as the Aadhaar Card. The UAE has the ‘one-card’, and we have now been able to partner with the UAE and international companies to bring the same technology to Guyana, so that we will have the one card that will drive all transaction,” the President explained.

He said: “We’re building a country; an environment in which there is greater efficiency, advanced transparency, accountability, one that is modern, one that is futuristic, and one that speaks to the ambitions and aspirations of the Guyanese people.”

The vision will eventually see the migrating of government, banking, and insurance services to digital platforms, which will also see the advancement of a modern governance architecture, Dr. Ali added.

With advancements already being made to mainstream the use of technology in health, national security, education, and economic improvement, President Ali underscored, once again, his government’s vision to build a technology and data-driven nation and economy, which could also see some of Guyana’s ‘tech’ services being exported.

Data centres is one area where the government is putting in the work to make the country a hub for this type of business, and the necessary legislative framework is being worked on to allow for this.

“By the time we get up to 2027, I’m convinced that we will have the most modern legal architecture to support any type of development in the region and around the world. That is because we are building a system that is taking the best available legislations regulations,” the President said.

Among technological developments on the cards in the health sector is the development of a patient-management information system, and a health-management information system driven by data and electronic forms of data management.

“That work has started, so that will help patient management information system that is global in nature. All your health data; your health information, everything will be on this one card,” the President said.

Work is also ongoing on the development of the first mental health management platform to enable a data-driven electronic platform that could identify hotspots, and guide the placement of counsellors, and dissemination of human resources to targeted areas.

The government is also looking at the use of drone technology as a delivery system that can particularly be used to reduce the costs of delivering medical supplies to the hinterland regions. For this, the government is looking to partner with private delivery companies.

“If we all come together, we can then buy into to this technology that allows parts of the movement of small amounts of resources, checks, everything to be launched through this infrastructure. That will save time tremendous time, reduced tremendous cost of doing business,” the President said.

On the security side, the government is looking at a project that will use technology to assist in intelligence gathering and intelligence police work.