Solution & Innovation

Until now, total disaggregation and lack of access to information dominated the labor demand and labor supply indicators of Rwanda. Even though most of this data is available at the national institute of statistics, there is no proper medium available for academia or other decision makers.

For that reason, the Labor Market Information System integrates with other partner’s systems. As a result, this enables exchange of data and information in order to produce labor market insights. Consequently, this data overview leads to greater stability of the Rwandan labor market. In addition, these improvements are to facilitate long term planning with line ministries MIFOTRA, MINICOFIN and implementing agencies like CESB and others.

Partners

• Rwanda Development Board
• GIZ program Eco Emploi
• Private Sector Federation
• Ministry of Public service and Labor

Until now, decisions of the executive office were made after data had been reviewed by a team of experts which was time consuming and allowed delays. However, especially decisions about deficits and critical issues need special attention and should be based on data that makes real time analyses possible.

Here comes the Government Command Center into place which combines all government KPI data systems like the budget office, IREMBO and other government indicators into one smart dashboard. The dashboard displays aggregated data in real time showing all risk factors which require changes. In addition, the dashboard supports the monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators.

Partners

• Office of the Government Spokesperson
• Rwanda Information Society Authority
• Office of the President
• Ministry of ICT and Innovation
• Office of the Prime Minister

Several Government institutions like ministries and district offices, civil society, embassies as well as government partners have websites to show their work. However, most of these sites have different designs and CMS engines which makes it hard for the user to know where to find relevant services.

Therefore, a new web presence was commissioned by the Rwandan government. The new government website harmonizes design and centralizes back-end system updates and maintenance​ in one single platform. It is accessible through www.gov.rw. Forthwith, all Rwandan citizens can access citizen services easily online reducing travel times and paperwork.

Partners

• Rwanda Information Society Authority
• Ministry of ICT and Innovation
• Office of the Government Spokesperson

Ensuring efficiency during bus rides often poses a challenge for bus drivers. Naturally, they cannot predict the number of passengers at the next bus stop. Standard routes require to stop at every station which can cost time if no passenger awaits there.

GERAYO intervenes here through using computer vision and machine learning. Specifically, the system determines the exact number of passengers at bus stops, manages traffic lights and optimizes bus pickups and routes. Therefore, it gives an overview of current traffic developments and can function as a smart traffic regulation tool. In other words, it is saving time and increases efficiency.

Partner

• Binary Earth

Smart Agriculture digital solutions are especially important since climate change poses a threat to the region. Especially, because Rwandan farmers are used to dry and wet season. Farmers need to adapt to changing seasons taking natural disasters like floods or droughts into account to avoid food shortages. Consequently, there is a need for farmers to monitor these changes in real time for the right decision making.

For this purpose, Smart Irrigation offers a solution while using an IoT system to analyze real time data about soil parameters. As a result, it enables efficient irrigation and provides a viable option for resilience and sustainable agriculture.

Partners

• Rwanda Agricultural Board
• Rwanda Information Society Authority
• Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources

Unpredictable weather and effects of climate change like floods or droughts make it difficult to ensure food security and lead to food shortages in Africa.

That is why, CDS4A was born in order to improve food security while providing recommendations based on GIS data about which plants grow best in which region at which time of the year. This allows smallholder farmers to plant accordingly and maximize their yield.

With the help of data visualization of the expected amount of rainfall, soil pH-value and GIS mapping, farmers are able to plant the right crops for given local conditions.

Partners

• African Institute for Mathematical Science
  
• Rwanda Agricultural Board
• Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources
• National Institute of Statistics Rwanda

People with visual impairments face different challenges when independently going out, especially in Africa. Assistance systems usually only consist of a wood stick which are common in Africa. Therefore, the My Way Digital Stick will help people with visual impairments navigating around and provide more convenient means of life.

Partners

• National Council of Person with Disability (NCPD)
• Rwanda Union of the Blind
• Ministry of Health (MOH)/Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC)
• Rwanda Information Society Agency (RISA)

An Early Childhood Development (ECD) program is essential for a future well-performing human workforce. Concurrently, Rwanda’s ECD is still lagging behind. Research has shown that the early years of parenthood play a key role in children’s brain development. Moreover, there is limited access to adequate programs and facilities to provide highly needed health information to Women of reproductive age.

For that purpose, Nutri was developed which is a mobile application based on machine learning to enhance nutritional knowledge among women. It proposed a solution to the challenge through recommending practices and behavioral changes. On the one hand, the app provides information specifically for future parents and caregivers. On the other hand it enhances mothers' knowledge about breastfeeding practices to support the children’s development. In other words, it educates about breastfeeding, complementary food preparation, food storage, hygiene practices and emotional bonding of mother and child.

Partners

• University of Rwanda (UR)-Nutrition Department
• Ministry of Health (MOH)/Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC)/ Early Childhood Development (ECD)
• Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF)
• Rwanda Information Society Agency (RISA)
• UNWomen

Rwanda hosts almost 150.000 refugees, at least half of whom are women. Over 55% of female refugees are cut out of productive opportunities due to the lack of information, means, financial literacy and market insights. On the contrary, especially refugees, due to their highly sensitive circumstances need lifesaving assistance. Particularly, this  includes food and nutrition, healthcare, shelter, non-food items, water, sanitation services, education and employment opportunities.

The mobile app and web platform MY MONEY functions as distribution channel matching financial partners with refugee women in camps. Specifically, it creates access to finance in form of loans, trainings of ibimina savings, ibimina management, investment opportunities, and market of their portfolios.

Partners

• Ministry in charge of emergency management (MINEMA)
• UNCHR
• Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion (MIGEPROF)
• Rwanda Information Society Agency (RISA)
• UNWomen

School lessons are often lacking a vivid and tangible design resulting in average or poor learning outcomes. Therefore, Virtual Labs in Education uses visual software for lab simulations for a variety of science courses. These are applicable in secondary (lower and upper level) schools making lessons a more immersive learning experience for students.

Partners

• Rwanda Education Board
• Rwanda Information Society Authority
• Ministry of Education

In times of a global pandemic, it is crucial that the entire population has access to reliable and timely information. This is particularly challenging in remote parts of the country, where people do not have access to the internet or do not speak English or French.

The Mbaza AI Chatbot provides key information around the COVID-19 pandemic to the Rwandan population. Being accessible in the local language Kinyarwanda and via simple feature phones, it bridges the information gap, especially for marginalized communities. In a next step, the chatbot will also be available to illiterate people based on AI-based voice technology.

Partners

• Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC)
• Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA)
• Digital Umuganda
• Mozilla Foundation

High-quality data is a key precondition to develop and train AI solutions. Whereas massive amounts of data are produced in the developed world, local data in Rwanda is scarce. This can lead to bias and discrimination in AI solutions. The DigiCenter is hence aiming to make high-quality AI training data available to Rwandan developers.

For the development of voice technology applications, such as Siri or Google Assistant, in Kinyarwanda, huge amounts of voice data are required. Together with the startup Digital Umuganda and a community of volunteers, the DigiCenter has collected more than 1800 hours of data which is available for download on the Mozilla Common Voice Platform. The data set is the biggest openly available voice data set on the platform behind English.

Partners

• Digital Umuganda
• Mozilla Foundation