Mbusa Joseph, a student from the College of Computing and Information Sciences (CoCIS) undertaking a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems and Technology is set to attend the Africa Internet of Things (IOT) & Artificial Intelligence (AI) Challenge finals in Jumeirah Towers, Dubai, UAE from 12th-18^th December 2021.

Mr. Mbusa Joseph who is also the CoCIS College President emerged as the best during the National competition of the  (IOT) & (AI)  Challenge in Uganda which  took place on Thursday 18th November 2021 at the National ICT Hub premises at Uganda Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Nakawa . Mr. Mbusa Joseph and others trounced their counterparts from Kabale and Busitema University.

Mbusa was among the Mak team that developed a technology dubbed, “Ntaasa Emergency system”, to improve  communication between the emergency service providers (Ambulances, Police, firefighters, and health works) and the Ugandan citizen.

“I congratulate Makerere University upon having students at the final National Competitions in which the best candidates will represent Uganda at the regional and continental levels in Dubai on the 13th December 2021”, said Prof. Venansius Baryamureeba, Chairman and Managing Director UTAMU Research and Innovation City (UTAMURIC). UTAMURIC is an umbrella non-profit organization that promotes research, innovation, business incubation and startups in Africa. 

Injury and medical emergencies are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in Uganda. The burden has cost the country massively in terms of human life.

This is partly attributed to inadequate means of communication between the Ugandan citizens and the emergency service providers (Ambulances, Police, and Health services. There is also an inadequate means of reporting violence and crime to the stakeholders.

It is for this and other reasons that students wrote a proposal to develop sustainable solutions that will increase access to emergency medical and security services across the country and reduce preventable deaths of Ugandans as government works towards rolling out the National Emergency Medical Service.

“The goal and objective(s) of this project is to save lives with the use of technology, bridge the communication gap between the emergency service providers and the Ugandan citizen and to improve crime reporting and other unacceptable conditions in society to the police and other stakeholders”, Mr. Mbusa said.

Users download the application from google play store by search keyword, “Ntaasa Emergency system” and then install that application on their phone.

The name and phone number of the person get registered in the software application for quick back and forth communication with the service provider and the victim. The user then gets access to all the service providers’ contact information so that they can call them or send SMS to them.

“Service providers give us toll free numbers, however, if they do not have a toll-free number then, they give us a paid number. For users that are not able to connect to the internet, we shall have an SMS short code where they can place their requests and our agents will be responding and connecting to them in real-time,”, said Mr. Mbusa Joseph.

Africa IoT& AI Challenge

Africa IoT& AI Challenge is a continent-wide program for senior university students and startups that have innovative ideas in the areas of Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and related fields. The challenge is co-organized by several national and international partners like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with its dedicated society for Technology and Engineering Management (IEEE TEMS), and different universities, corporates, and governmental entities in Africa

“On behalf of the steering committee of the Africa IoT& AI Challenge, I cordially invite you to participate in the finals of the Africa challenge among the activities of IEEE Global Conference on Artificial Intelligence & Internet of Things (IEEE GCAIoT ) 21”, Mr. Mohamed Aboud, Chairman of Africa IoT& AI Challenge Program stated in his invitation letter to Mak students.

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Jane Anyango is the Principal Communication Officer, CoCIS