Team Africon from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) is the winner of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup in Kenya, a competition which centres on the use of imagination, creativity and technology to help solve some of the world’s problems.
The team developed a mobile application called Life Buddy, which seeks to help blood recipients to easily link-up with donors. The app allows anyone who needs blood urgently to quickly post a request on the app, which then sends a notification to users of a compatible blood group within a radius of 20 kilometres.
Team Africon is made up of Kevin Gitau, Peter Ombwa, Solomon Jenjere and Alex Kinuthia, who will go on to compete in the Imagine Cup World Semifinals, which will take place in August in Microsoft’s hometown of Seattle in the United States (US).
“We are so excited to have won today’s competition – and to have the opportunity to represent Kenya at the World Semifinals,” said Team Africon. “And we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to compete with students from around the globe who, like us, are passionate about making a difference in the world.”
Commenting on their choice of Windows Phone to develop their app, Ombwa said: “Windows Phone 8 provides an easy-to-use development framework, which makes it easier, quicker and more cost-effective to develop. It’s definitely our platform of choice for future development.”
BiDE Code took secondposition and will also be participating in the semifinals. The team developed an application called TeachSpace which focuses on making it easy to teach, makes content available and integrates deep sharing between teachers and students.
Team Momentum Core took third place with Refugee Movement, a game where users may sign pledges for presidents to support the people of Dadaab, or petition the African Union (AU) to pass legislation that aids Dadaab’s refugees, and by doing so increases the overall health of the camp.
“Each team that competed is deserving of the highest recognition for the creativity and imagination applied to some of the world’s biggest challenges. We’re proud to honour these young students who we believe truly exemplify the spirit of the Imagine Cup competition, and we will be cheering team Africon on as they compete on the world stage,” said Paul Roy Owino, developer and platform lead for Microsoft East and Southern Africa.
