SOMETIMES I feel as though there is a pervasive sense of apathy towards data and digital technologies, locally. If not, it at least appears as though we are not inclined towards efficiently mainstreaming digital technologies, nor are we enthusiastic about harnessing data to inform decision-making.

Just like many others, I watched in horror at the sheer devastation caused by the recent fire at the Brickdam Police Station. Aside from the destruction, what was particularly worrying for me was the loss of so many documents needed for court cases, investigations, and aids to police work in other regards. Though officers tried to save these papers, many of them went up in flames or were soaked.

This reminded me of a few years ago when I visited this same station to make a report about being robbed. I recall the officer taking my statement on a blank paper (no lines, headings, or anything at all). This was not in a book, it was just a single paper and I sat there wondering if he was not taking my report seriously or whether this manual, paper-based system was the norm.

I later found out that, in many cases, this was indeed the norm. Reports compiled in other places or my other groups of people, such as social workers, were all done similarly. It should go without saying that this is an incredibly outdated and frankly inefficient way of compiling reports, but this is the prevailing system.

Another worrying situation that was recently brought to my attention was this manual or print type of reporting in the health sector, specifically in the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine cards issued when an individual is vaccinated become an essential item due to certain vaccine requirements instituted. Yet, the system of record-keeping and data retrieval is highly flawed.

Information about a person who goes to get vaccinated is- surprise, surprise- manually written. And, this information is then stored in one location. What this means is that there are mountains of paper with people’s information. Though there is some system of organisation, if someone misplaces their vaccine card and needs a replacement, for example, it would require a considerable amount of effort combing through those mountains of paper to find the records to verify if someone was vaccinated.

With this system, I encourage you to think about what happens if those records are damaged in any way (because there is no digital backup as yet). I also encourage you to think about the various loopholes in the vaccination rollout that can be exploited because of the paper-based system (Hint: Think about the reports of stolen books and forgery). And now, compare what you might have thought about with a digitalised system that allows for swift queries and data retrieval and the ability to guarantee greater data integrity.

This sounds like a fancy “first world” mechanism, but it is not that complicated. We live in a world where it is easy to download an app that uses your phone’s camera to scan documents and save those as PDF files. We live in a world where smartphone cameras automatically detect QR codes and where some applications can convert written text into typed words.

I do not believe that we have scratched the surface of data analysis and the integration of digital technologies. While we continue to grapple with this COVID-19 pandemic, we have not seen sustained efforts at representing the spread of COVID-19 geographically. The same data provided by the local authorities on which communities are “hotspots” for COVID-19 can be used in a Geographic Information System (GIS) to illustrate the spatial relationships that exist and allow for the analysis of trends that appear. With that sort of integration of technology and analysis, there are greater possibilities for mitigation strategies.

Let me hasten to add that I have long believed there is a seemingly lacklustre approach towards data collection and analysis and the integration of digital technologies to make data easily accessible in the local health sector. Data is often woefully outdated or plain limited and that prevents many people from analysing trends and informing their decision-making. This is an issue that has been acknowledged by the Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony himself, according to a January 4 report from the Guyana Chronicle.

We have to do more than write reports on paper and store them in filing cabinets and allow time to make those records wither away or get destroyed. We are doing ourselves an immense disservice by still relying on these archaic methods without properly integrating technology and making efforts to use data to inform our decision-making.

Let’s not wait until another building filled with important records goes up in flames before we decide that we must hasten our efforts towards digitisation. Please!

If you would like to connect with me to discuss this column or any of my previous works, feel free to email me at vish14ragobeer@gmail.com