By Seleoe Nonyane
The Lesotho Revenue Authority (LRA) held its first three-day Hackathon competition in Teyateyaneng from Friday last week.
Hackathon as the name suggests, is usually a competitive event in which people work in groups on software or hardware projects, with the goal of creating a functioning product by the end of the event.
The event drew participants from distinctive institutions such as the University of Stellenbosch whose task was to assist the LRA in finding solutions to aid the gathering of data. They were assigned a task in finding ways in which tax payers can comply, which LRA has found to be an issue.
LRA’s commissioner of operation support, Mosuoe Mapetla, said the primary motive of this project was to invite innovation from outside as innovation cannot emanate only within LRA.
“The objective of this event is extreme coding, whereby we are looking at your ingenious capabilities as technologies and block chain experts to help us come up with products that we can use, we are hoping to leave this place with prototypes of products that we can implement,” Mapetla said.
LRA hopes that the participants will be capable of creating prototypes for sustainable and workable solutions that will optimize systems and ensure that LRA’s desire to be a digitally driven organization that is tuned to the latest digital development, power of technology and technologies that are available, to be realized.
LRA commissioner-general Thabo Khasipe, said: “Gathering of tax is crucial in that we need to ensure that the country has money in order for the government to be able to carry out its responsibilities, which include providing service to the nation.”
On the final day of the event, LRA picked the top three contestants who won prizes who won cash prizes ranging from M10,000 to M30,000.
“We are satisfied with the results we obtained from the participants as they had been given a task to help LRA to develop a better way in which we can tackle the Tax compliance issue, the groups came up with creative, flexible and reliable solutions that we as the LRA can use in order to fulfill our ultimate goal.” Chief Executive Officer Mr Rokoana Makoa, said.
