The pandemic has affected every business and individual but there’s a way for us all to work together
The Covid-19 pandemic has had an immense impact on the world. It’s changed so many of the frameworks by which people live and work and that they have taken for granted that it’s fundamentally shifted the foundations on which humanity stands. From work to social to business to daily life, the rules have been altered to adapt to the demands of the virus and the incredible value of human life. For Liquid Intelligent Technologies, it was important to use its infrastructure and services to ensure that essential organisations and workers were given the support and services they needed do more in their fight for a healthier tomorrow.
In South Africa, Liquid Intelligent Technologies donated R1 million to the Gift of the Givers Foundation to help with the purchasing of much needed ventilators. As a highly reputable and recognised non-profit organisation, Gift of the Givers was the perfect choice for this relief effort. The company has in-depth experience of disaster management relating to people in vulnerable communities and the one thing that the pandemic has highlighted is how important it is to protect the vulnerable as much as possible. Liquid Intelligent Technologies has been working with the Western Cape government workers using the APN mobile operator solution. This connects essential services and workers so they can work more efficiently in helping patients.
Two hospitals, Netcare in South Africa and Kenyatta Hospital in Kenya, both worked with Liquid Intelligent Technologies and a local startup, Raphta, to implement contactless biometrics with facial recognition. The goal was to limit the movement of patients who tested positive for the virus and minimised the spread of infection as it minimised the need to touch surfaces. Using Liquid GoCloud, this partnership uses intelligent technology layered on the Liquid Telcom network to give hospitals more control over movement and spread. The facial recognition solution is also ideally suited to allowing for medical practitioners to move smoothly through the hospitals without having to touch surfaces unnecessarily, protecting both them and their patients.
In addition to the facial recognition solution for Kenyatta Hospital, Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Kenya has been collaborating with government to provide food donations – meals for up to 900 people in vulnerable communities – and to ensure consistent and reliable connectivity. The latter is essential to ensuring that government can communicate with people and with other countries throughout the pandemic to ensure coordinated efforts and information sharing.
In Zimbabwe, Liquid Intelligent Technologies has also been working with the local government in the creation of a toll-free helpline and a call centre that’s designed to provide people with 24/7 support. People can dial the national 2023 helpline for free to receive essential help should they need it. The collaboration has also extended into helping with increased connectivity solutions that allow for improved screening at ports of entry, childcare establishments and the Ministry of Health. Liquid Telecom customers in Zimbabwe have been given extra bandwidth and capacity for free during the pandemic.
For Liquid Intelligent Technologies, these efforts are just part of the role that the private sector needs to play in helping citizens, governments and organisations survive the changing pandemic landscape. The world will never be the same again. It will forever be altered in how it approaches healthcare investment, communication, and people. Organisations need to be able to look back over the months that dictated the new normal with a sense of pride, knowing that they did their part to make the transition as easy and as safe as possible.
Over the next few months, Liquid Intelligent Technologies will continue to provide additional bandwidth and capacity at zero cost to companies and citizens in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe. The company has put connectivity at the forefront of its strategy, ensuring that people stay connected, reliably, across Africa. The future may be uncertain, but Liquid Intelligent Technologies is not going to let its connectivity follow suit with the capacity to absorb increased traffic and demand across all markets.
The pandemic presents a unique challenge to societies and organisations on the continent. Liquid Intelligent Technologies is committed to providing the critical service of connectivity to millions in Africa, and to use its influence to help others when it is needed the most.
