My digital address book is a game changer

While in Germany, Mr Steve Odhiambo sent several parcels to his mother in Kenya. However, most of the parcels got lost because she could not be traced as her postal services had been cut off. 

This got Mr Odhiambo thinking on how to remedy the situation. And a business idea was born.

He decided to come up with a digital address book that would ensure that parcels and other goods get into the hands of the right people wherever they are.

The innovator started working on the idea while pursuing university studies in Germany. It took him two years for his concept to take concrete shape.

'UKOWAPI' SYSTEM

Ukowapi is a digital address book which profiles individuals through a web and mobile platform using Global Positioning System (GPS).

The aim of the platform is to ease delivery of goods, services and parcels. It traces the location of people without precise physical and postal addresses.

“While in Germany, I tried many times to send my mother parcels back in Kenya but they were never delivered because her postal address services were cut off,” Mr Odhiambo told Money.

“It is out of this need that I decided to create addresses that would be tracked down using mobile and GPS.”

Ukowapi also seeks to make individuals reachable through a web and mobile platform. It provides safe and secure sharing of digital addresses by providing reliable and verifiable digital information.

Ukowapi is a Kiswahili word which means ‘where are you?’ The invention was started with a seed capital of Sh11 million provided by an incubation centre in Germany. 

CONTINENTAL VISION

So convinced is Mr Odhiambo of the viability of his idea that before he even breaks ground in Kenya, he is already setting his sights on Ethiopia and Nigeria, where Internet uptake is high and is the key driver of businesses.

Mr Odhiambo says Kenya is ripe for his business because the economy is rapidly shifting to online.

Among the businesses that Ukowapi is expecting to connect through digital addresses are HelloFood and Jumia Kenya. The firm is also targeting courier businesses, hotels and supermarkets.

Mr Odhiambo, who did his undergraduate in Electrical Engineering at Darmstadt University in Germany, says he has conducted sufficient surveys in Kenya and realized there is a yawning need for his service.

Ukowapi is coming in at a time when HelloFood, Jumia, Jovago, and Eazy Taxi are thriving in the online business. These virtual companies are certain to find Mr Odhiambo’s GPS address tracker very instrumental in connecting with their customers.

GLOBAL AWARDS

Mr Odhiambo currently has five employees all based in Germany. The venture has set up a website http://www.uko-wapi.com/ linked to a web, android and an iPhone application.

Mr Odhiambo says Ukowapi is set to revolutionise address systems in the developing world to “a safer, more connected and more accessible world”.

The enterprise has received recognition in Europe and has already bagged awards before it is unveiled. Last year, at The European Satellite Navigation Competition (ESNC) where he was the first Kenyan participant, he emerged second.

In 2012 Mr Odhiambo bagged the Galileo Masters Award for his Ukowapi innovation. Galileo Masters is a European award which recognises innovative services, products and businesses that incorporate satellite navigation technology into everyday life.

UKOWAPI PILOTING

The piloting of the innovation in Kenya will kick off on Friday at Serena Hotel in Nairobi. Mr Odhiambo says the event will bring together important stakeholders in food delivery, e-commerce and courier services.

Mr Odhiambo says the innovation provides a unique platform for e-commerce firms looking to make cost-effective deliveries with minimal location errors.

Kenyan buyers are increasingly turning to online markets such as Bid or Buy, OLX, Nation Media Group’s N-soko, Jumia, Rupushops and Mama Mikes. It is this trend that Mr Odhiambo looks to tap.

Mr Odhiambo says his invention will make it big in the local scene and the continent at large just like Safaricom’s mobile money transfer platform M-Pesa.

Just like Safaricom mobile cash transfer service, he says Ukowapi is mobile-based platform.