The DR Congo's 20 Years old Tech Genius, Josephine Uwase Ndeze who is the fruit of a well known institution in Eastern DRC, "Institut Supérieur d’Informatique et de Gestion ISIG Goma" designed a mobile platform that can enable expectant mothers to monitor their health during pregnancy.
The platform is connected to a smart bracelet, which checks the woman’s vital signs and sends them to an emergency service provider in real time.
Basically, it will enable to monitor their progress, symptoms if present, and connect them to their health care providers should the results necessitate an emergency.
Josephine’s vision is to contribute to bringing down maternal deaths.
She received Rwf3 million (US$ 3324.1) in cash prize, a certificate and a technical membership in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
With the membership, she will have access to the most essential technical information and networking opportunities globally.
Miss Geek Africa is a competition that brings together African young female entrepreneurs in technology space.
The competition started as Miss Geek Rwanda in 2014 but was renamed Miss Geek Africa in 2017 and has expanded to many countries in Africa. Girls and women between the ages of 13 and 25 submit apps that solve problems through technological innovations.
Top 10 finalists undergo a week-long intensive training program to equip them with presentation, public speaking and critical thinking skills to prepare them for competition day. Ms. Geek Africa is selected by a panel of judges and receives exciting prizes including a cash prize, phone and/or tablet, laptop, a trip to an international technology conference, among others. All expenses are covered for all selected finalists.
The first runner up, Gladys Wairimu, from Kenya, designed ‘Big Brother Surveillance’ that seeks to tackle illegal poaching in parks by using drone technology for surveillance. She received Rwf2 million (US$ 2216.07).
The second runner-up, Ndeye Fatou, from Senegal, developed ‘SOS Sang’, which will enable healthcare providers to link with blood banks to ensure that they have access to blood efficiently.
It is a web platform that manages and links all blood storages in hospitals in Senegal. The platform is optimised to identify matching and closest blood donors in case of shortage of blood.
She walked away with Rwf1 million (US$ 1108.03) in cash prize.
According to Girls in ICT Rwanda, the organisers of the competition, this year’s edition attracted over 250 applications from 15 countries.
Last year, Salissou Hassane, from Niger, was the winner of the competition.
Ms Geek Africa 2019 event at the Kigali Convention Centre
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