DIGITAL DRIVERS HUB: THE MALAWI ROAD TRAFFIC USER/CITIZEN INTERACTION SYSTEM

Road traffic management in Malawi continues to face challenges associated with paper-based workflows, fragmented records, delayed processing, limited application visibility, fraud risks, and weak coordination of road-safety information. These challenges can affect the efficiency, transparency, and accessibility of essential transport services. This paper presents Digital Drivers Hub: The Malawi Road Traffic User/Citizen Interaction System, a proposed digital platform designed to modernise driver licensing, vehicle registration, road-incident reporting, and traffic-fine management.

The system aims to provide a centralised digital environment connecting citizens with administrative processes while improving access to road traffic services. Its architecture incorporates a React and Vite web frontend, Supabase backend services, and a PostgreSQL database. Role-based access control and Row Level Security are included in the design to support controlled access to information and protect sensitive records. The proposed system incorporates online applications, supporting-document uploads, digital record management, QR-code verification, incident reporting with location data, notifications, and administrative dashboards. These features are intended to improve information accessibility, support document verification, and strengthen the monitoring of administrative activities.

The interface is designed with mobile accessibility and low-bandwidth conditions in mind, recognising the technological and connectivity limitations that may affect users in Malawi. By reducing dependence on manual procedures, Digital Drivers Hub offers a practical software-based approach to improving service delivery, record traceability, and administrative oversight within road traffic management.

However, the platform's effectiveness in addressing existing challenges must be established through systematic testing, user evaluation, and security assessment. Integration with authorised government systems would also be necessary before the platform could support official national road traffic operations. The project therefore provides a foundation for exploring digital transformation in Malawi's road traffic sector while identifying opportunities for future development, institutional collaboration, and evidence-based evaluation of its potential benefits.