Tech community in northern region: what is the way forward? – Rashid Lancer

Story By:  Rahamatu-Lahi Zakaria || Sanatu Zambang

Tamale is fast rising to becoming a tech hub in the country. Young people are passionate about technology and what it can offer them, either using them or building apps. But one way or the other, the youth are into technology. Rashid Lancer Joined the discussion on Sanatu Zambang SDGs Live to talk about the tech community in Tamale, the challenges and the way forward for the new industry.

Rashid Lancer is a co-founder for Guild Bytes, a tech company that focus on building apps for businesses and financial institutions to help them in the management of their work. He is also the founder of Lancer graphic which has been rebranded to Pesewa Brands Gh, which provide services like graphic designing, website development and currently Lancer graphic is going through a new phase. The new phase would incorporate advertisement and branding business for its client.

Talking about the tech community in Tamale, Rashid says, we talk more than we build. According to him. Tech practitioners seems to enjoy talking about what technology can do for people and how they can use it to better their lives and business than building tech solutions for people to use and add by saying  ‘’we need to transition from talking to building’’.

He also lament on the attitude of practitioners which he says limit their innovativeness and creativity. According to the founder of Lancer graphic, because of the culture of silence here and how people are raised to not speak or challenged authority, tech practitioners bring that to the profession which does not help them to develop their skills and push further, would not help them in their development.

‘’Attitude, we are too shy, too humble, and afraid to go closer, afraid to network. You don’t want to bring crazy ideas because they will shut you down.’’

Rashid Lancer

Highlighting the support system in the industry, Rashid says his fellow tech colleagues would criticize your work, not to correct you but rather to belittle you and rubbish your work. He does not encourage that and believes criticism are welcome but it should be to improve you and not to demoralized you and play down your creativity.

Expanding the industry he says can only happen if the conversation is broaden. The conversation around tech is still limited to individuals in the profession. In creating a well-functioning tech environment in Tamale, Rashid states that ‘’We talk among ourselves but we need to go beyond that, talk to people that are not into tech to talk about what technology can do for them.’’

But notwithstanding all this, people are striving to build a new Tamale with technology where everything is possible. Young people are building apps to solve problems in the communities’ whiles other are training the people to learn how to use and incorporate technology into their businesses.

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