16 Sep 2020

Gambling Authority (GA) chief executive officer Mr Thuli Johnson says the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the authority to fast-track its digital transformation.

Mr Johnson explained in an interview that the organisation had rolled out online, some of the services such as licensing the national lottery, transfer of two casino licenses and issuing a new casino license.

He also indicated that the move to digital had also fast-tracked the authority’s financial audits for the year 2019/20, much to the admiration of the financial auditing industry.

Mr Johnson said the use of cloud services to eliminate the use of paper would make the organisation more efficient and effective in servicing its clientele.

“We set out from the onset, and embedded it as part of our strategy and culture that we will run a high tech company that uses no paper and this meant availing our services online. We managed to achieve the paperless feat and it has brought tremendous benefits for our stakeholders, particularly evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

He noted that all their documents were filed, edited, signed and shared electronically.

“…We do not have your conventional arch lever files in our offices. Our tenders are handled online, supplier registration is done online, no fax machines, no paper,” he said.

Mr Johnson said that because of these changes, their employees only needed laptops or smartphones so they could work from any part of the world and deliver the same results they would if they were in the office.

He underlined that this way, employees were able to access information and respond directly through mobile phones, email, social media, and online chats.

He said there had been existing environmental reasons for going paperless such as reducing carbon footprint, or for financial purposes such as cutting costs, and streamlining processes.

“Studies have demonstrated how companies that rely less on paper boast the highest productivity levels while those still reliant on paper waste countless hours sorting through paper, broken printers, malfunctions, and cumbersome printer set-ups.

In line with their digitization drive, Mr Johnson said they had also moved away from the use of fixed lines, citing that their landline number was internet-based and could be answered and transferred from anywhere so long as there was internet availability.

According to Mr Johnson, they adopted this transformation when their organisation came into being in April 2016 and it came in handy during the COVID-19 lockdowns, as they continued to operate and provide service with minimal distraction.

“By harnessing advances in digital technology the GA has been able to respond to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic by temporarily decongesting its offices whilst being able to operate at optimal capacity. The company has since held all scheduled Board meetings, departmental, and staff meetings during COVID-19 lockdowns using digital platforms,” he said.

 Mr Johnson said GA has joined hands with the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) by funding the development of a gaming lab which would be developed and hosted by the BIH.

It is expected that many young people will find the lab appealing and will take advantage to create and modify games and Applications for the local as well as an export market, he said.

The objective of the project was to promote a successful electronic gaming industry which is among the fastest-growing industries in the world. ends