New Democratic Party launches ‘We Ready’ app

Voter registration and the solicitation of information from the voter population has become a lot more interesting for the technologically savvy population of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The “We Ready” web application, which is an initiative spearheaded by the New Democratic Party (NDP) youth arm, was launched on Wednesday {{more}}at the Kingstown Methodist Church Hall.

In welcome remarks, president of the NDP Young Democrats Nick Francis stated that the app, which was developed by local Vincentian programmers, was designed to encourage voter registration.

“This is our We Ready Campaign – designed to engage with all Vincentians on our smart phones and mobile devices. The app is dynamic, interactive and informative, easy to use and ready for a generation of young people who have grown up in a world that is different from that of most adults,” Francis said.

Francis noted that many persons rely on technology for a range of reasons and that political engagement through the web and blogs are examples of how to actively engage the younger generation in civic society.

“The New Democratic Party is serious about youth development and engaging young people where they meet and converse online and is dedicated to making information and communication technology work for young people by ensuring that it plays a positive, productive and creative part of our activities, development and social participation,” he said.

The application (app) features a clean, modern and user-friendly design, with full Facebook and Twitter integration and downloadable wallpapers and ringtones for smart phones.

Also included is information on voters’ concerns about the country and steps on how to become registered for voting, if one is not registered already.

Users of the app are asked various questions, including if they are registered to vote, if they have the new ID card, what are the main issues that concern them (jobs/income earning, agriculture, cost of living, crime and corruption, education, health care, tourism), if they are planning to vote in the next general election, and what constituency they are registered in. Persons who are not registered are told where they can go to be registered and asked if they would like to be reminded when registration is taking place in their area.

One of the app developers, Kelvin Pompey, told SEARCHLIGHT that working on the development was a great learning experience for him, particularly “being able to put it together, being able to implement the vision that they had for the application and make sure that everything worked well across the various devices and so on.”

The app is designed to run on Android, iOs and Windows 8 devices and can be accessed by typing in www.weready.vc into one’s browser.

Persons interested in learning how to interact with the web application can stop by a demo area which will be set up under the Singer gallery in Kingstown. (BK)