The National Digital Property Addressing System, also known as the Ghana Post GPS has recorded over 160,000 downloads since its launching a fortnight ago.
The application which was launched by President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is aimed at providing an effective means of addressing every location and place in the country, using an information technology application.
The app, which government said cost the country $2.5 million, has been criticized by some experts in the technology space as well as some civil society organisations.
IMANI Ghana’s Franklin Cudjoe has raised issues with the security risk to the data received by the system.
“I’ve read quite a number of reviews by industry watchers, and some of the comments they’ve made are not necessarily helpful – to think that you could input just any data and generate an address in itself sounds amateurish. There are basic web portals where you input any kind of data it could reject it, especially when you are filling forms. And to hear that obviously, that it is something with this app is quite troubling,” Franklin Cudjoe said.
Some criticisms have also bothered on the cost of the project especially the cost involved in campaign for the usage of the app.
Ghana Post has spent GHC3.5 million on publicity to market the launched digital property addressing system.
Reacting to these claims on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Programme Tuesday, the Deputy Minister of Communication, George Andah said the amount spent on the campaign is worth it.
The reason, he said, is because over 160,000 Ghanaians have downloaded the application and are currently using it signaling its success.
“There have been 160,000 downloads so far and we must celebrate that especially as a Ghanaian company designed the app which has an international appeal…,” he said on the show.
He further urged Ghanaians to embrace the app further and jump unto the platform because ‘its digitime and good for Ghana’.
He further added that the campaign would last for 12-months including the tagging of offices.