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Tshwane safety app overcomes language barriers

Cape Town - The crime fighting application developed to increase safety is uniquely positioned to overcome language barriers that exist in South Africa.

Namola - a safety app that uses a subscriber's geo-location to dispatch an emergency responder - concluded its pilot phase in the City of Tshwane recently.

One of the preliminary findings is that it plays a role in overcoming language barriers.

"Instead of having to tell someone in a control room who you are and where they can find you the application is able to collect, and pass this information on to the nearest responders and the control room directly," Craig Rivett of Ever Africa told Fin24.

South Africa has 11 official languages and the risk that crime-victims may not be understood at their local police stations is high.

Language barriers

An automated process can potentially remove language as an obstacle, resulting in a more efficient response to emergencies.

Watch as Craig Rivett of Ever Africa explains how Namola overcomes language barriers to increase safety:

"The app removes potential holdups that could slowdown the deployment of resources to your location, like having to spell out your street address or your name," Rivett said.

He conceded that though the app was piloted in English, there are plans to remove the need for language proficiency in future versions of the mobile application.

"Going forward however greater emphasis will be placed on using images and icons to represent app functions. This will allow the app to be universally understood without the need to translate the app into multiple languages."

Namola is based on the principle that you should have instant access to security at your location when you need it and the pilot project demonstrated the need to train responders in how to utilise the technology.

Responder feedback

"The responder app was designed to be as user friendly as possible. The dedicated Tshwane Metro Police responders that were involved in the pilot were trained extensively on how to use app before going live," Rivett said.

He added that as the developers eye national roll-out of the application, feedback from responders was invaluable in building functionality.

"The feedback from the responders on using the app will be used to design training manuals and enhance the usability of the responders' app going forward."

Much of the hardware for the responders was sponsored by Huawei for the pilot phase to ensure that they had easy access to GPS-enabled smart devices.

The Namola application was initially piloted in Monument Park, but expanded to Waterkloof Ridge and Erasmusrand as Ever Africa examined the feasibility of national roll out.

"The bigger area should help us better understand what else is needed for a large-scale rollout," said Rivett.

Craig Rivett of Ever Africa says that crime prevention app Namola works in wealthy and poor areas.


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