GPS Association Pushes for Technology to Curb Road Accidents

GPS Telematics and IOT Association Ltd (GTIAL) has formed a joint venture entity to support Ugandan Oil and Gas projects to deliver the benefits of safety, operational cost reduction, optimization and improved performance associated with GPS Fleet/ Asset Management technologies.

GTIAL is an association that brings together legally registered companies in Uganda that are in the business of GPS/Telematics Tracking of vehicles, motorcycles and water vessels.

The association is making an effort to prevent road carnage and accidents through fleet management and monitoring.

This was revealed Tuesday by Henry Isaiah Katongole, Chairman of GTIAL, while speaking at a media engagement held at Private Sector Foundation-Uganda (PSFU) offices in Nakasero, Kampala.

Katongole said that as members of the association of GPS & Telematics industry, they have come together to explore opportunities, especially in the Oil & Gas sector taking reference to the local content bill.]

He added that this will focus on the benefits of GPS/Telematics Systems provided by GTIAL Association members, which include safety, by mitigating against occurrences of accidents, terrorism, and theft.

According to him, the services will reduce operational costs of fuel, insurance and asset maintenance, improve fleet management efficiency, and also provide evidence for use in courts of law, if need arises.

“As a collective, we believe we bring on board a combined experience of over 30 years within the industry which is a foundation of this initiative,” said Patrick Male, a Board member of GTIAL.

Timothy Mwandha, the Secretary-General of GTIAL, revealed that their intention is to extend the same offer proposed for the Oil & Gas sector to the public transport sector as a means to address and mitigate the road carnage the country has witnessed in the last few weeks.

Over 30 lives have been lost in less than a month due to different road accidents.

The association, which is a member of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda, is in the process of engaging all stakeholders including the Uganda Bus Owners Association, the Ministry of Transport and the Uganda Police to embrace GPS technology to reduce road accidents.

“Given the wealth of experience we have across different industry sectors e.g logistics, tourism, manufacturing, finance and banking; we believe we can add great value to both oil and gas, and the public transport sector,” Mwandha added.