“Usalama” isn’t the first foray by Kenyan developers into public health and safety issues. It has become the epicenter of Kenya's burgeoning tech scene. Nairobi's iHub, the co-working space where "Usalama" developed the app. The “Usalama” team say they have had interest from an organization in America and are working to introduce parts of the app to college campuses to help address safety concerns for women. The app also logs incidences reported by users, creating a database to highlight “crime hotspots” in towns and cities. We’re also introducing a timer where if you’re not home, say within an hour, it sends a distress signal,” Inganji explains. “If you are going home late at night, you can set the app so that you and a friend make sure you return home safe. They’re developing the app beyond the ‘panic button’ function. But after a series of free trials they gifted to various private companies in the sector, they now have a number of security, health and women’s organisations onboard. Initially, the team were met with scepticism from emergency providers about the new technology. The founders of “Usalama” aim to bridge this gap between mobile-savvy Kenyans and emergency providers. The biomedical jacket diagnoses pneumonia using Bluetooth “In an emergency seconds can be the difference between life and death,” Inganji says. “Usalama” might not have prevented Inganji’s phone from being stolen, but it could have at least quickly and accurately alerted the police and ambulance services of his whereabouts. They put ideas into action and created “Usalama,” a mobile app that sends a distress signal when a user shakes their phone three times alerting emergency services of their location, as well as their next of kin, and every “Usalama” user within 200m. They thought: what if people in need of help could, at the flick of a wrist, alert emergency services? Luckily, they just took my stuff,” Inganji describes.Īfter this incident, Inganji, and his two friends James Chege and Marvin Makau – also developers, sat down and considered what they could do to help make people safer. “I felt hopeless and I couldn’t get any help. He was attacked by a group of men who stole his laptop. One unfortunate victim was developer and entrepreneur Edwin Inganji. Incidences of muggings, carjackings and other crimes are not uncommon in Kenya’s capital city. According to IPSOS, crime in Nairobi is twice the national average.
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