More hopes as girls create local technology solutions

As the country prepares to leapfrog the economy to technology based by 2020, Girls are taking the lead in providing local solutions in different sectors in a bid to usher in a digital lifestyle.

Through the Ms Geek 2016 Awards held on Saturday, five projects in sectors of agriculture, service delivery and health were selected paving way for the use of local applications to solve problems in communities.

“We celebrate what we have achieved as a country and what we are aspiring to do but with an ICT driven society where there be more women in technology,” said Lucy Mbabazi President of girls in ICT project.

The project which organizes the Ms Geek competitions annually now in its third year aims at inspiring and encouraging girls to pick interest in technology but also take up science subjects that are dominated by boys.
According to Mbabazi, this year’s competitions saw a technology solution known as automated irrigation (ivomerere) system that eases irrigation taking the first slot and winning a cash prize of Rwf 2 million.

The system as Rosine Mwiseneza, 22 from Kepler University, the inventor of the project  explains  is embedded with a sensor and switch-off Switch on technology which helps the farmer to take off time from time to time irrigation routines.

“The systems can automatically know that it is time for watering the plant or when to reduce without the farmer being there to monitor the irrigation,” she said.

The system comes at a time when the government is introducing irrigation systems across the country to help farmers fight drought but also increase productivity in the agriculture sector.

But also fascinating was the Hellojob solution which helps employers to get domestic workers developed by 15 year old Samantha Pauline Manywa from Gashora Girls Academy which took the second slot winning Rwf 1 million.

“This application will be accessed through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data-USSD on a mobile phone where an employer can search for different job seekers profiles but we will later make it available as a downloaded application,” she explains.

But the recent growing challenges by car owners who have been complaining of heavy fines in defaulting parking fees by city authorities have seen Lisa Noella Kirezi from Gashora Girls Academy developing a phone based solution that will allow then to  buy parking fees as packs.

“The solution is called Easy Parking and enables drivers to buy Parking packs through Unstructured Supplementary Service Data-USSD, it’s like buying internet packs,” she explained. Her slot picked the thirds slot winning Rwf 500,000.

While the health sector also saw two solutions developed with one called meet the doctor with Interactive Voice response options developed by  Faridah Umutoni from Akilha Institute helping patients to contact doctors and the IV Drip Alert by Ange Uwambijimana from Tumba College a Management information system for drip monitoring, embedded with GSM micro controller.