Oarabile Nchalupi, a 23year old BA (Hons) in Professional Design 3rd year student at Limkokwing has developed a Covid-19 Digital Permit that one can apply for, from the comfort of their home.
Oarabile said he was motivated by the rising cases of Covid-19 infections globally and locally to design a digital permit that will respond effectively to the issue of social distancing, time management and strategic monitoring. “I had realized that our government was still using the traditional method of authorizing permits to citizen’s logistics, I thought of designing a PDF Digital permit which consists of design security features as well as an authorization security code. I also realized that many people do not afford internet at homes and I intended to take advantage of social media especially WhatsApp which is the most affordable and tested this process through WhatsApp and it worked well, meaning that anyone who has subscribed for WhatsApp can have access to the service,’’ he said.
Oarabile said he used Adobe Illustrator CS6 to make the PDF Digital Permit and used more than 10 security features that are of the same standard as a bank note to restrict duplication in case anyone tries to copy it illegally. “I made this permit ready for a software and app which can later be developed and be used by administrators who issue out the permits. For now, I have created a second option that instead of the software, other students can volunteer to edit this permit and submit to people via WhatsApp for a limited number of people in a district e.g hundred people daily in each district. Instead of people going to crowd at the district council they can receive this permit in their smartphones via app,” he said.
Limkokwing Senior Faculty Manager for Design Innovation Faculty Otsile Molome applauded students for innovative initiatives and appealed to Government to recognize and embrace such talents. He concluded by saying that they are exploring ways in which they can assist students to finalize their design and bring it to life for the benefit of the nation at large.