The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has launched a pilot programme deploying tablet-based data collection across key operational units, as part of its digital transformation drive to enhance efficiency, accuracy and responsiveness in power distribution.

Under the initiative, field crews in selected regions have been equipped with tablets to capture real-time data on meter readings, transformer status, line inspections and fault reports.

The collected information is transmitted promptly to ECG’s central system for faster analysis and decision-making — a shift away from traditional manual data collection methods which were more prone to delays and errors.

ECG management indicates that the system will • shorten the time between performance measurement and operational response, • improve monitoring of critical assets such as poles and transformers, • reduce billing inaccuracies by tying meter data directly to captured readings, and • support proactive maintenance and quicker fault detection.

As one senior ECG engineer put it: “With tablets in the field, we can see what’s happening now and act now, not days later when paperwork is processed.”

The system also allows for GPS tagging, timestamping of events, and photo-capture for reference, supporting greater transparency and auditability in ECG’s field operations.

This pilot forms part of ECG’s broader modernisation agenda, which emphasises digitalisation of assets, customer data, and operational workflows to support the utility’s objective of improving service delivery and reducing system losses. The success of this tablet programme could see a full roll-out across all regions later this year.