By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal
Ilorin – A company known as Sambus Geospatial Nig. Ltd. has offered ₦5 million worth of software and technical support in rendering Geographic Information System (GIS) solutions to combat COVID-19 spread in the country.
Mr Akua Aboah, the Managing Director of the company with its headquarters in Ghana, made this known while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Ilorin.
He said the effort was part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the company to help in assist Nigerian in the fight against COVID-19.
“Since the first case of COVID-19 was reported, health organisations, responders of all types, and individuals want to have quality information on the evolutions of COVID-19 spread.
“Scientifically, such information requires geographical data and analysis to arrive at relevant facts and figures.
“The GIS technology is inevitably required in every location intelligence solution and consequent to this, our company has been offering support to government agencies, health departments, non-profit organisations and industries monitoring COVID-19.’’
According to Aboah, this is possible by using complimentary software resources provided by Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI) to build dashboards, which gives essential geographic data to monitoring COVID-19 in the country.
He said the Operations Dashboard created by Sambus Nigeria has been adopted by the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) representing COVID-19 data across the country.
He said the company ensures that ESRI’s Disaster Response Programme (DRP) is well leveraged on in the country’s region by providing resource donations, training, and technical support to organisations as part of her CSR.
Aboah said this would enables the maximisation of location intelligence across the country using GIS applications to efficiently proffer solutions that facilitate decision making in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The platform designed by Sambus Nigeria features data from NCDC, WHO, among other authorities which is quickly integrated and visualised in real-time with specific attributes of varying locations.
“This is affected in a GIS application known as ArcGIS and represented in an Operations Dashboard that enables the public access to COVID-19 spatial data.
“Data represented include infected locations, number of reported cases, active and recovered cases as well as deaths across the country.’’
He reiterated that real time locational data is how we will know where exactly the disease was recorded, maintain an accurate assessment of contact tracing and curb the spread of COVID-19 quickly so the world can be rid of this pandemic.
Also speaking with newsmen, Mrs Esther Moore, the General Manager of the company, also reaffirmed the company’s position in offering geospatial support and assistance to organisations at the frontline.
She said this is through innovative reporting platforms that can be used to analyse and cross-reference symptom reports based on location for easier testing.
She said Sambus Geospatial is the sole authorised distributor for ESRI’s Geographic Information System (GIS) Software; ArcGIS in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, and Gabon with over 30 years of experience in the Geospatial Industry.
(NAN)
