The digital era has dawned in Zambia!

I just realised that  my car insurance, road tax, and fitness test of my car would expire the following day! A busy day awaited me and I constantly feared the horror of those long exasperating queues at RTSA. I  immediately stopped what I was doing to rush to any nearby RTSA outlet. 

I went to a mobile insurance seller where I found a conversation about the option of buying road tax online. The lady selling insurance answered, "Dont try, it takes a month to be ready!" 

After buying the insurance I rushed to RTSA for the road tax. Arriving at the  RTSA Ridgeway offices I found a long snake of a queue, but more worrying was the congestion which completely disregarded the COVID-19 rules of social distancing. There were quite folks, loud talkers, and laughers. I spotted a number of people with facemasks but which were pulled over the chin area. The horror began for me: the queue was moving at a snail rate of about one hour for a distance of not more than 30 centimetres! There were intermittent episodes of outbursts of anger and shouting at officers manning the door: "Why is the queue not moving? You are letting in some people who never stood on the queue". I cannot tell the total number of saliva droplets that would splash out on the different people around.

I simply wasn't ready for this nightmare. Words of that man asking about buying the tax online echoed into my mind. I grabbed my phone and looked up RTSA using Google and there it came. Its a user-friendly and intuitive interface I must say.

I quickly entered details of my car. When I tried to enter my insurance details the system couldn't confirm them but advised me to contact my insurance provider. I pulled the insurance receipt and located the company's mobile number. It was quick and efficient: the lady on the phone requested for my receipt number and car details and within a short time she uploaded my details. I went back to the RTSA page, entered the insurance details and all was set! I transacted using my visa card details and hooray, my disk was ready! I gracefully excused myself from the long queue, rushed to the office and printed my disc. Next I transacted for the fitness test and printed the required document. I again rushed to RTSA's Makeni Mall test centre. I found another long noisy queue! "Sir, you've already done the work online , you dont have to be on this queue!" Wonderful, I said to myself as I handed my signed paper documents and in a few minutes my test certificate was ready.

If all people quickly embrace the digitisation of systems, this is how RTSA outlets will be looking like:

I dream of a queueless RTSA!

At the end of this exciting day the biggest question on my mind was this: Almost everyone I saw on that queue had a smart phone, and a number of people were chatting on Whatsapp or were strolling through Facebook. Why couldn't they transact online? And what about that lady who gave misinformation about how long it takes to process the RTSA requirememnts online? Well, I can only say, what RTSA has done is great but as always, there is always not only resistsance to change but much misinformation that can hinder or delay a system from effectively taking off. The introduction of e-learning systems is no exception. If you are planning to introduce one, you will need a robust team with enough thick-skin to resist the resistance and to re-educate teachers or lecturers, and in worst case scenarious, to convince managers who may not favour the idea. However, it doesnt take very long for people to realise that much of the hardwork when transitioning from a brick-and-mortar education system to an electronically supported one is only during the initial stages. Later on, after the transition, lecturers start to work less; much of the content of subsequent intakes would have already been uploaded and only minor edits would be taking place.

From my RTSA experience here is what I learnt. When change occurs, there will be three kinds of people: 

• The ignoramus: that person who hardly knows anything about the transition taking place; the person seems completely unaware of new systems being introduced and so they continue to suffer doing work the hard way when there is actually a smarter way which has been introduced.

• The misinformer: that person who knows something about the system but hasn't dedicated enough time to practise and learn how the system works. He or she will make loud noise about the supposed errors or inifficiencies he enocountered when using the system. Beware of the misinformer; he or she can jeorpadise efforts of implementing a good system. It is important to provide enough information and training about the system, and more importantly to set-up a user-support mechanism for assisting those encountering challenges.

• The willing to try and learn: This person is ready to try and use the system. When they see that there are more benefits to be enjoyed from using the system than demerits, they are quick to encourage others to use it. For the RTSA system, I belong to this category and I am now trying to encourage you to use it. Apart from saving you time, you will contribute to a healthier greener planet: less cars on the road going to RTSA, and less paper getting printed.

If you have already transitioned to e-learning or are in the process of doing so, I can't wait to hear what your experiences have been. Would you care to share?