BLANTYRE-(Maravipost)—Solving problems during a crisis demands speeding up innovation by repurposing the knowledge, resources, and technology you already have at hand. The coronavirus pandemic is one of the most difficult collective challenges facing humanity since the last world war.

In the midst of the turmoil, national health authorities, pharmaceutical companies, universities, and research institutes are racing to find therapies to save lives and contain the grave social and economic consequences of the pandemic.  As health organizations and experts scramble to innovate therapies, professionals in the Information and Communication Technology are also doing everything possible to reduce the spread of the pandemic by coming up with different technologies.

One of the IT experts in Malawi Mayamiko Nkoloma, a Master of Science (MSc) focused in Wireless communication systems from The University of Sheffield, has responded to the skyrocketing of COVID-19 cases in the country by  coming up with a software to reduce contact in work places like banks, shops by making shoes smarter.

Having realized that no company wants its operational processes to play a role in transmission of the virus, Nkoloma says a very cheap sensor will be embedded in the shoe and the sensor will allow people to make transactions by just stepping on the mat.

“Many people are saying that this Covid could be here to stay. This thought is making us start thinking deep on how we can change our ways of doing things with an aim of reducing the spread of this pandemic. One of the systems that may need automation is the payment system in shops, restaurants, banks plus their ATMs, just to mention a few.

“As such our R&D team have come up with an amazing solution in which we are making your shoes smarter (by embedding a very cheap sensor in the shoe). This sensor will allow people to make transactions by just stepping on a mat. This mat could be installed on any service counter and transaction will be effected by just standing on it. The solution will be customized according to the service given and further integrated to other related systems (Eg Banking systems and other backend systems),” says Nkoloma.

“The solution may also be useful in office setup, since with Covid-19 we will no longer use the finger print door access technology. Iyi munthu azingoyima pa mat (with this technology, a person will just step on a mat) and the door will open and management will record the attendance accordingly,” he adds.

According to Nkoloma, who is also a lecturer at the Polytechnic, a constituent of the University of Malawi (UNIMA), first deployments of the technology will be done in August 2020.

Nkoloma’s solution comes at a time when Malawi is experiencing a constant tremendous surge of cases of the novel Coronavirus and workers in banks, shops and health facilities have not been spared.

As of today Monday, cumulatively, Malawi has recorded 2,992 cases including 62 deaths. Of these cases, 903 are imported infections and 2,089 are locally transmitted.

In a statement released on Monday by the presidential taskforce, the government has called for more action to reduce the spread of the pandemic.

“Today is another sad day in our fight against COVID-19 as we have exceeded the mark of 60 to reach cumulative total of 62 deaths that calls for more activism in our response to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our country. To reduce and contain the spread of the coronavirus, everyone must participate in this fight.

“If we collectively practice all preventive and containment measures, the spread of the virus can be stopped. No single measure is effective on its own. We need to adopt and practice all preventive and containment measures as a package,” reads the statement in part.