It’s true, this app could very well save your life

From left to right: James chege, Kenneth Gachukia, Edwin Inganji and Marvin Makau. All are between 22 and 24 years. PHOTO | DENNIS ONSONGO

What you need to know:

  • Edwin and five of his friends partnered to create an app that would send a distress signal from the victim’s phone to nearby emergency services. Such was the birth of Usalama Technology.
  • The team is designing a web framework for emergency providers to integrate with Android. “For gender violence, we’ve partnered with Nairobi Women’s Hospital’s Gender Violence and Recovery Centres.”
  • Usalama Technology also provides software services to schools. “We provide online and localised School Management System, Parental Notification System –built on Bulk SMS, school websites and timetabling software.”

As the technology scene grows exponentially, engineers across the world continue to develop blockbuster gadgets, ingenious applications and other brilliant innovations that can only be expressed in superlatives. As a result, life has become a whole lot easier, a fascinating experience, yet much more remains to be witnessed from what is a resourceful, inexhaustible and endless well of scientific imaginations.

At only 22, Edwin Inganji has not been left behind by the train of technology. His hi-tech wizardry has seen him shoot to the global stage, elevating Kenya to the high table of some of the world’s most intelligent brains.

So what inspired his entry into the technological space?

He says: “During our second year in university, my friends and I wanted to participate in the annual Safaricom Appwiz Challenge, so we started brainstorming for ideas. We visualised an innovation that would impact the society by solving key day-to-day issues.”

To do this, he says, they interrogated their everyday challenges, and possible technological solutions.

Unfortunately, they abandoned the project midstream, due to the conflict it had with their schoolwork. For Edwin though, that did not choke his enthusiasm to create a life-changing app. His second chance would come in the most unlikely fashion: a misfortune.

“I was walking to my hostel one evening when I was accosted by four armed men. They took my laptop and other valuables and badly beat me up in the process.”

Few days later, Edwin says, a fellow student was shot thrice in a robbery incident. With these two nasty experiences in mind, Edwin and five of his friends partnered to create an app that would send a distress signal from the victim’s phone to nearby emergency services. Such was the birth of Usalama Technology.

“While developing the app, we had in mind circumstances such as rape, abduction, carjacking and domestic violence. We thought that if relief could arrive sooner, damage would more likely be reduced, perhaps intercepted altogether.”

HOW IT WORKS

The basic functionality of the application involves relaying distress signals to the nearest police stations, ambulance and rescue services. “All the user does is shake the phone to open the app, tap on the icon describing the nature of their emergency and the signal is sent,” Edwin explains.

The signal will contain information such as the user’s location, mobile phone number, the three nearest police stations and their contacts. Once the emergency services receive the signal, the user receives a confirmation notification.

“We have partnered with various emergency service providers. If a user triggers a medical emergency, it is our ambulance partners who will receive the signal.”

When they agree to respond, the user receives a notification to inform them that an emergency service is approaching. Also, the user’s relatives, listed as emergency contacts, are constantly updated should, or as the victim’s location changes.

“The connectivity between users of the app locates other users within a 200m radius. These are people who can easily get to you, and be able to offer assistance in the event of an emergency.”

 Another interesting feature is the security news platform where users within a given locality are able to share security news.

“Even better, we have programmed the application to alert us whenever our users enter dangerous zones or black spots while driving,” says Edwin, adding that this puts them in a state of preparedness in case there is an emergency.

The team is designing a web framework for emergency providers to integrate with Android. “For gender violence, we’ve partnered with Nairobi Women’s Hospital’s Gender Violence and Recovery Centres.”

On the country’s performance in technology, Edwin acknowledges that creative inventions such as Mpesa and Ushahidi have encouraged the country’s tech aficionados to experiment more. 

Edwin argues that as the pioneering country in mobile money technology, practical apps that enhance accessibility to basic services could perform even better in Kenya.

FRINGE BENEFITS

Usalama Technology also provides software services to schools. “We provide online and localised School Management System, Parental Notification System –built on Bulk SMS, school websites and timetabling software.”

Edwin and his partners have cast their nets wide. “We want to enhance the ease of access to emergency services across the continent by making it efficient for both emergency service providers and the consumers.”

Edwin runs the company together with his partners, James Chege and Marvin Makau, both who studied Informatics and Computer Science at Strathmore University, and Kenneth Gachukia and Daniel Kimotho, graduates of Business Information Technology from Strathmore, and Felix Kanyi, who studied Medicine at the University of Nairobi. All are between 22 and 24 years.

The team has distributed the roles of product development and maintenance, sales and marketing amongst themselves, with each partner heading a department.

From inception in October 2016, Usalama Technology’s revenue has majorly been from the sale of school-oriented software, making Sh150, 000 on average every month.

As the country gears toward Vision 2030, the role and place of technology can never be overemphasised. Edwin believes that improving Internet penetration, connectivity and affordability across the country is critical.

“The Internet has positioned itself as a formidable contributor to the GDP through the ever increasing number of people working online. It is also a fundamental tool of empowerment that levels the playing field for participants in all the segments of the economy.”

The application has received huge attention from international media such as the Guardian, UK Business Insider, New Internationalist and Face2Face Africa. The application is a finalist in the 2016/2017 African Prize for Engineering and Innovation, where Edwin and his team will represent Kenya.