Bandwidth Barn entrepreneur Tony Mwebaze won the MTN hackathon with a water purity data solution at the African Utility Week (AUW) at the Cape Town Convention Centre (CTICC) yesterday.
The hackathon aimed to give younger IT experts the opportunity to solve utility challenges with software technology.
Mwebaze’s non-labour intensive water quality data platform came out on top. The system will meet water purification needs from water plants or reservoirs to domestic water points.
Through the solution, water purity level data capturing is simplified through a cloud-based app.
Speaking to HumanIPO, the programmer explained: “I demonstrated a mobile application that would connect to the cloud to fetch data sent by the electronic equipment at the water station.”
Although a lecturer by day at the Cape College, the mobile developer works at a community startup called VELS digital studio by night.
Pristine, a sanitation app currently in testing phase, is the firm’s most recent project and is set to launch within the next two months.
“If they are in their community and they come across a sanitation problem, they pull out their phone and seeking out their problem and share it without having to go to offices or call,” Mwebaze said.
The app also includes sanitation tips like washing hands and proper toilet hygiene.
Available on Android, iOS and BlackBerry platform, the service will also be accessible via a SMS-based service for feature phones.
Mwebaze believes his ability to communicate his complex solution has given him the edge in winning the competition.
“I think [when it comes to] communities with geeks, [they] often they cannot express themselves in a human language. I was able to present myself …but at the same time bringing the technical side of things.”
HumanIPO reported live from the AUW this week.
