DATABASE APPLICATIONS AND LOAD TESTING (CASE STUDY: INEC IMPLEMENTATION OF BVAS IN NIGERIA)

SYNOPSIS

In Nigeria, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) implemented the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to ensure that the elections are free and fair. The overall objective of the BVAS is to ensure transparency by collecting votes from individuals electronically and transmitting to a central server simultaneously for the purpose of ‘counting’.

The BVAS was designed to help eliminate voter fraud and ensure the integrity of the electoral process. By using biometric authentication, the system helps prevent multiple voting, impersonation, and other forms of electoral fraud. The system also provides real-time data on voter accreditation, allowing election officials to monitor the process and address any issues that may arise.

The BVAS uses two modes of accreditation, hence the name “bimodal’. The first mode is the online mode, which uses a network connection to access the central database of registered voters. The second mode is the offline mode, which stores a copy of the voter database on the device used for accreditation. In the event of a network failure, the system can switch to the offline mode to allow accreditation to continue.

Definitely, BVAS is a clear illustration of how technology can be used to create transparency in governance.

WORKABILITY

Without going into too much detail about the technicalities for the workability of the BVAS system. I will summarize by identifying the 4 major components for the BVAS:

1. Electricity (To power devices)
2. Software (Front end UI to collect data)
3. Internet Connectivity (To connect and upload to server)
4. Database (To store data)

OTHER FACTORS GUIDING THESE COMPONENTS LISTED ABOVE INCLUDE:

1. Mobile power banks/inverters at polling units to ensure that all electronic devices stay powered on to collect and transmit data
2. Implementation of GDPR/NDPR (Data Protection Framework) to ensure the safety of personal data and properly train all personnel on safety procedures managing data including information systems management. 
3. High bandwidth Internet connectivity to ensure smooth transmission of data from communication devices to central server via secure sockets and encrypted protocol
4. Integration of security development cycle (SDL) to the Software Development Cycle (SDLC) to ensure that cybersecurity protocols are infused to the codes to prevent cyber attacks such as SQL injection, etc.
5. Implementation of RDBMS (Relational Database Modelling System) principles in the database design (such as data integrity & data validation) 

OTHER CRITICAL FACTORS FOR BVAS IMPLEMENTATION

1. BUG BOUNTY – Due to the sensitive nature for which the BVAS was adopted in Nigeria, it is highly important that before implementation, a team of ‘white-hat hackers’ or ETHICAL HACKERS are employed to hack the system for a reward. This would ensure that the system has been tested for any security breaches, lapses and ‘back-doors’.
   
2. LOAD TESTING – This phase checks to see the ‘breaking points’ of the system to see how it will perform as the load increases. A team of professional software testers should be employed for the sole purpose of breaking the system with humongous traffic. Everytime they succeed in breaking the system, it exposes lapses that can be fixed before using the system for the real life scenario.
   

ServerPoint Technology is an IT company in Nigeria that is passionate about bridging the digital divide in Africa and western counterparts. Hence, this article addresses the implementation of the  BVAS for the 2023 elections and proffer solutions to avoid the challenges experienced that have somewhat disappointed the gross populace.

BVAS CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED BY INEC

Despite the investment in BVAS, some polling units in Nigeria were forced to revert to the  manual way of collecting votes and the INEC officials reported that the BVAS could not be implemented because the CENTRAL SERVER could not accommodate the traffic from all the polling stations simultaneously.

As an IT Professional, it is easy for me to point out that the culprit for this issue is the fact that the system was not adequately tested before implementation on the 25th of February, 2023.

The rest of this article would discuss the practice of load testing that would have prevented the BVAS from malfunctioning due to heavy upload traffic from multiple polling units.

BVAS AND LOAD TESTING: ENSURING OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE IN UPCOMING ELECTIONS

The BVAS is a database application. A database application is a software program that interacts with a database to manage data and perform various operations ,such as storing, retrieving, and modifying data. These applications are essential for managing vast amounts of information and delivering real-time insights to users.

However, as the volume of data and the number of users increase, the performance of the database application may deteriorate. This is where load testing comes in. Load testing is a type of software testing that assesses how well an application performs under heavy workloads. It involves simulating real-world usage scenarios and measuring the system’s response time, throughput, and resource utilization.

Load testing is crucial for database applications because they are typically designed to handle a specific amount of load, beyond which they may become unresponsive or crash. If the database application is unable to handle the load, it can lead to downtime, slow response times, and frustrated users. Load testing can help identify these performance bottlenecks and provide insights into how to optimize the system’s performance.

When load testing a database application, it is essential to consider several factors. These include the number of concurrent users, the amount of data being processed, and the type of operations being performed. The load testing should simulate the system’s expected usage patterns and stress the system to its maximum capacity.

One of the most critical metrics to monitor during load testing is response time. Response time refers to the time it takes for the system to respond to a user’s request. If the response time is slow, it can lead to poor user experience.

Another critical metric to consider during load testing is throughput. Throughput refers to the number of requests that the system can process in a given period. If the system throughput is low, it can lead to performance issues and decreased user satisfaction. Load testing should be performed to ensure that the system can handle the expected throughput.

Load testing can also help identify potential scalability issues with the database application. Scalability refers to the system’s ability to handle increased load by adding more resources, such as servers or storage devices. Load testing can help determine the maximum capacity of the system and identify the point at which additional resources need to be added. 

SUMMARY

The implementation of load testing is a critical step in ensuring the optimal performance of database applications (BVAS). It would help identify performance bottlenecks, optimize response time and throughput, and ensure the system’s scalability. By performing load testing, INEC officials and administrators can ensure that their systems are prepared to handle the expected usage and avoid downtime, slow response time and a frustrated electorate.