An EAC Mobile Application meant to disseminate news, information and reports on a timely basis about the current state of affairs and development has been unveiled. The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Richard Sezibera, unveiled the mobile application version 3.2 at the 4th EAC Secretary General’s Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, yesterday. Amb. Sezibera hailed the EAC Youth Ambassadors’ Platform, the architect of the application, for the brilliant innovation. He singled out Brian Joseph Otim, Jacob Eyeru, Dennis Leku and Herbert Esemu from the EAC Youth Ambassadors Platform, Uganda Chapter, for developing the first-ever EAC mobile application product and making it accessible globally. In a statement from the EAC, Sezibera said the application, also known as EAC in the Palm, was free, open and easily accessed mobile platform dedicated to easing sharing and disseminating EAC related information as well as tracking reports on development programmes in the region. “This will increase information outreach and sensitisation on the EAC integration process in real time,” said Amb. Sezibera. At the launch ceremony, Otim, the head of the EAC Mobile Application Project at the EAC Youth Platform, outlined some of the benefits of the product, which include; prompt information outreach to all citizens of the Community and the rest of the world through individual smartphones. He said this would advance the “one to one” sensitisation efforts of the Community; rebranding EAC on the social global network where information on EAC activities as updated on the website is made available to the public on a real time basis through the application. It will also enhance people-centred integration motive through the interactive chat module embedded in the application, and; increase the involvement of citizens to informative capacity building discussions. Richard Owora, the head of the corporate communications and public affairs at the EAC Secretariat, said the app was long overdue. “The world today has high-tech information dissemination channels to fast-track market and stakeholder interactions. To this end, technological innovations are being adopted at an unprecedented scale and speed, particularly by over-the-top players and this should be no exception for the EAC Secretariat,” Owora said. Present at the ceremony were Ramadhan Mwinyi, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East African, Regional and International Cooperation, Tanzania; Jesca Eriyo, the deputy secretary general (productive and social sectors) at the EAC Secretariat; the German Ambassador to Tanzania and EAC, Egon Kochanke; and Charles Njoroge, deputy secretary general (political federation). The EAC application is now accessible for those with smartphones on the Google play store. To download the application, you type East African Community in the search box and application by SONET will be displayed for download. Click on the install button to start downloading and in a few seconds the application will be installed on a device. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
