01 — SEAFARER SERVICES

Putting the seafarer’s file, health and rights online

The context

A seafarer cannot work without a documented record of training, medical fitness and standing. In Senegal, that record lived on paper, in one building, in Dakar.

The problem

Verifying a single training certificate meant writing to the agency, waiting for the Director General to assign the request, waiting again for the responsible directorate to check its own files, then waiting for a written reply. Two to three weeks was normal. Files were lost or duplicated. Medical data sat in cabinets, with confidentiality enforced by a lock rather than by design. And a seafarer with a grievance had no channel through which to raise it and no way to know it had been received.

What I did

Delivered three connected systems on a shared identity layer:

• Training certification — centralised issuance and tracking of seafarer training certificates, with a single record per seafarer replacing scattered paper files
• Medical records — secure management of medical examinations and fitness decisions, with strict separation between medical and administrative access, and a full audit trail on every consultation of a record
• Gaalgui — a grievance channel through which seafarers submit complaints to the agency and follow their resolution, giving a documented status to every claim

The outcome

3,187 seafarer files digitised, and growing daily. Certificate verification reduced from up to three weeks of inter-departmental correspondence to an instant lookup. 188 grievances handled through a tracked process rather than informally. First consolidated view of the national seafarer workforce available to decision makers.

02 — MARITIME REGULATION & PORT SAFETY

Certification, pilotage and ISPS compliance in one estate

The context

The agency’s technical directorate issues the certificates and approvals that authorise seafarers and vessels to work, oversees pilotage operations in the ports, and is accountable for port facility security under the ISPS Code.

The problem

Three regulatory functions, three sets of spreadsheets and paper registers. No consolidated view of what had been issued, what was expiring, or whether security controls were actually operating — and evidence for external review assembled by hand each time it was requested.

What I did

Delivered three systems covering the regulatory chain:

• Certification and approvals — issuance and lifecycle tracking of the certificates and approvals granted by the maritime safety directorate, covering seafarers and flag State certification for vessels, with automated expiry alerts and a live register
• Port pilotage management — management of pilotage operations across the national ports, replacing manual coordination
• Security management — monitoring of port facility security compliance under the ISPS Code, consolidating assessments, controls and evidence in one auditable system

The outcome

64 certificate and approval types for seafarers under digital management, alongside flag State certification for vessels. 15 port facilities covered by ISPS compliance monitoring. Compliance status available on demand instead of reconstructed on request.

03 — RUNNING THE INSTITUTION

Giving the agency’s leadership a live picture of itself

The context

An executive team steers on information it receives late, in slide decks, once a quarter.

The problem

No real-time visibility on directorate performance. IT incidents reported by phone and lost. Staff identity cards issued on paper with no way to verify them in the field.

What I did

Delivered three internal systems:

• Performance monitoring — real-time dashboards of key indicators across every directorate, giving the Director General a live view rather than a retrospective one
• IT service desk — a single channel for staff to report and track hardware, network and application issues, replacing ad hoc requests
• Service cards — issuance and management of staff identity cards carrying a QR code, so that a card’s authenticity can be verified instantly in the field

The outcome

28 indicators tracked in real time across 13 directorates and departments, replacing quarterly reporting cycles. IT incidents raised and resolved through one measured channel. Staff credentials verifiable on the spot by QR code.

04 — PRIVATE SECTOR ADVISORY

Acting as the IT department for companies that do not have one

The context

Most mid-sized Senegalese companies carry real IT risk without carrying an IT function. Systems are assembled over years by whoever was available, nobody owns them, and the exposure only becomes visible on the day something fails.

The problem

No architecture, no inventory of what runs where, no backup that anyone has ever tested, and no plan for the day the person who set it all up moves on. Hiring a full IT department is disproportionate; doing nothing is not an option.

What I did

Through my consulting practice, I act as an outsourced IT lead for private companies: mapping what exists, closing the security gaps that matter first, choosing and overseeing the vendors, and putting in place the small number of procedures that make a system survivable. Clients include Solener Technologies, an electrical engineering firm working on power generation, transmission and distribution across Senegal.

The outcome

Companies get the judgement of an IT director without the payroll of one — and I keep my practice grounded in environments where the constraint is cost and continuity rather than regulation.