R1: Virtual lab

Proposed call Undecided

Theme Education
Introduction A maj A major obstacle facing students doing science subjects
in Tanzania is the insufficiency of laboratory apparatus,
chemicals, reagents and other items that students would
use for practicals. Many schools opt for alternative to
practicals during the final examinations of secondary
education. The scarcity of the virtual labs that address the
challenges of Tanzanian education is another concern.
Many virtual laboratory software programs are not free
and do not adequately fit with the syllabus of the science
subjects taught in Tanzania Secondary Schools. Many
schools lack adequate ICT physical infrastructure and
electrification in schools, low level of ICT skills and
experience and lack of localized software and content.
Purpose
/need/rationale
The Virtual Labs Project will enable students with no
access to real laboratories to have a feel of what is
happening in the laboratory using the multimedia. This
will improve their understanding and the zeal for
creativity as concepts that are difficult for teachers to
instruct will be visually illustrated.
The project will enable students with real laboratories to
increase their confidence by using the virtual labs before
getting into the real laboratories. The multimedia in the
virtual lab allows a student to visualize experiments,
restart or correct a mistake he/she has made thus the
fear of destroying apparatus or wasting the
reagents/chemicals is minimized.
The cost of reagents and chemicals will be minimized as
the probability for students to misuse the reagents and
chemicals is reduced. This has the advantage of helping
schools to reallocate the budget that would have been
otherwise used in purchasing reagents/chemicals to other
school priorities.
The successful undertaking of the virtual lab project shall
effectively complement the Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow
project being undertaken by the MoEVT.
Project Description Virtual labs are one way of using the ICT to address
teaching and learning. Virtual labs constitute an
environment that use technologies to illustrate concepts
learned in class by students simulating the real labs.
Virtual labs provide the students with tools, materials and
lab sets on computer in order to perform experiments
subjectively or within a group anywhere and anytime.
These experiments are saved on CDS or on web site.
Virtual labs do not replace the real labs but are a means
to complement what has been learned in class before
going to the real lab. For schools that do not have real
labs as is the case with most schools that are located in
rural areas, virtual labs are a good means for students to
experiment and have a feeling of what is happening in the
lab. Students can use reagents, apparatus, samples and
other resources visually as many times as possible
without depleting them. Virtual labs too have been said to
reduce the fear to students in handling chemicals and
other apparatus before getting into the real lab.
Budget and Contacts Still working on it
Members interested 1.Augustine Malero
in the research 2.

R2: Telemedicine

Proposed call
Theme Health
Introduction Tanzania faces serious challenges to improving the health
and well-being of its people. The Ministry of Health and its
partners in government, the donor community and civil
society have responded with concerted action, in many
cases achieving significant gains. The current Tanzania
health system suffers from continuing disparities in health
outcomes between the poorest and the richest and those
in rural versus urban areas. At the same time the are
barriers to service experienced by the poor due to
distance, formal and informal health charges, and other
obstacles. The normal workflow of the Tanzania health
system requires the patients in need of service to travel
to the closest clinic or hospital to receive basic treatment,
and to more distant institutions for specialized or
emergency care or for hospitalization. This model does
not provide comprehensive and efficient access to health
care in developing nations like Tanzania. With a large
population living in rural areas, some of which are not
reachable by road, ill patients often lack the time and
resources to reach the closest clinic. In urban areas, part
of the population lives where clinics are few,
overcrowded, and poorly funded. One of the options to
get specialist care in areas isolated from the rest of the
medical world is by means of telemedicine.
Purpose
/need/rationale

Project Description This study will explore the potentials available within and
outside Tanzania health facilities for expanding the reach
of Health Care with Telemedicine. Using interviews,
documentary review and experiments the project seeks to
realize the Telemedicine system that will be used as the
model for future Telemedicine developments and projects.
Budget and Contacts
Members interested
in the research
1. Victor Claret
2. Lucian Ngeze




R3: e-kilimo / e-agriculture (or any other name)
Proposed call COSTECH
Theme Agriculture
Introduction 70% of Tanzanians are considered to be involved in agriculture
for their survival. Most of them lack proper farming
methods to enhance their production. It is vital that they
know the effort (and resources) they are going to put and
what they can harvest.
Purpose
/need/rationale
The project can be useful, as farmers or stakeholders can
clearly predict what they can expect from their farms. The
application can also help to address the shortages of
agriculture field experts.
Project Description The project is about developing an application that tracks
the growth of crops (for food). It is intended to simulate
the various conditions such as soil composition, amount of
water, minerals and supplements that crops are / can be
subjected to, and how those conditions affect the growth
of plants on daily or monthly basis and eventual
production from the crops.
Budget and Contacts Still working it out.
Members interested
in the research
1. Gilbert Gilbert
2.





R4: Improving the quality of education and learning outcomes

Proposed call HDIF
Theme
Education
Introduction

The advancement of ICTs has changed the lives of people in different
ways such as, in work places, business, education, and entertainment.
Moreover, many people recognize ICTs as catalysts for change; change
in working conditions, handling and exchanging information, teaching
methods, learning approaches, scientific research, and in accessing
information. Integration of ICT in teaching and learning has a role to
improve access, equity, quality and relevance education.
In Tanzania, the integration of ICT in the teaching and learning process
has not reached the expected level despite several efforts by the
Government through the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training
(MoEVT). Tanzania Beyond Tomorrow (TBT) Project was one such
initiative which focused at introducing ICT into the classroom to help
teachers in reaching more students and building new skills. The current
National ICT Programme for Secondary Schools is another initiative
which aims to provide training to secondary school teachers to be
equipped with knowledge and skills of integrating ICT in teaching and
learning, administration and management.
In order to increase and improve the use of ICTs in secondary schools,
there are many factors that need to be worked on. These can be
classified as resource-related factors; factors associated with training,
skills, knowledge and computer experience; and attitudinal and
personality factors.
Purpose /need/rationale

The Tanzania Development Vision 2025 speculates that Tanzania will
have a well educated and learning society. Providing education and
promoting ICT are keys to the achievement of the vision. The initiatives
by the Government have been directed to the provision of skills and
knowledge on some ICT facilities with the supply of few facilities to
some schools. Effective ICT integration in teaching and learning
requires teachers to acquire Technological Content Pedagogical
Knowledge (TCPK) and their intersections. This project aims at
complementing the efforts made by the Government in integrating ICT
in education by attaining the following objectives:
The project aims at achieving the following:
1. Providing training to secondary school teachers on the
effective use of different ICTs in teaching and learning.
2. To establish infrastructure where the knowledge obtained in (i)
will be applied to enhance quality of teaching and learning.
3. To develop digital content which can be used by teachers with
the skills obtained in (i) and established infrastructure in (ii) to
provide quality teaching and influence quality learning.
4. To evaluate effective use of the skills and infrastructure
developed in (i) and (ii) respectively for enhancing the quality of
teaching and learning.
Project Description

In this project, few resource-limited secondary schools in the selected
region will be identified. Science and mathematics teachers from those
secondary schools will be trained on the use of different tools and
technologies to ease their teaching process. Infrastructure will be put in
place make sure that the knowledge obtained is put into practice.
Teachers will then have to produce digital contents based on the
subjects they teach and use them for quality teaching and learning. At
the end of this period, evaluation will be done to make sure all the
objectives were achieved and suggest better ways of utilize ICT to
enhancing quality and accessibility of education.
Budget and
Contacts

Members interested in the
research
1. Lucian Ngeze
2. Eduard Elias
3. Frederick Julius
4.Deo Shao
5.Rukia Mwifunyi


R5: Improving Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Primary Schools

Proposed call
HDIF
Theme
Education
Introduction Mathematics is a language of numbers which enables us to solve simple
to complex life problems. It is not only used as a computational tool but
as a tool of science and technology enabling scientists to explore
concepts which idealize models before applying them in reality.
Mathematics is a subject that is taught at primary and secondary levels
for eleven years in Tanzania. Teaching and delivery of Mathematics
content at these levels have been challenging in some areas. The
performance of Mathematics has however, been decreasing from year
to year. The government through Ministry of Education and Vocational
Training (MoEVT) has been working hard to reduce the challenges
facing the education sector.
One of the major steps taken by MoEVT is the induction of a
transformation campaign coined as Big Result Now (BRN) which
intends to catalyze the performance of the sector. The specific
objectives of BRN in educational sector are to improve pass rate to at
least 80% in primary and secondary school levels, and to improve
students abilities in the mastery of the 3Rs (Reading, Writing and
Arithmetic) at Standard I and II by implementing skills assessment and
training to teachers (URT, 2013). In order to realize the said BRN
objectives, a lot need to be done. Technology is the corner stone in
accomplishing the BRN objectives. BRN campaign has intentionally
concentrated at the root level of Tanzanian education system to ensure
the higher levels get qualified candidates. This project will be devoted
to scale up attainment of the BRN objectives by developing a
mathematics learning kits for primary school pupils.
Tanzania Development Vision 2025 clearly shows in one of its visions
that Tanzania will have an educated and learning society by 2025
(URT, 2011). This project will fuel the attainment of this vision by
building a strong foundation of Mathematics at lower level.
Purpose /need/rationale

Mathematics is one of the most important subjects covered in different
levels from primary schools to university level where it is taught as a
paramount subject in studies involved in technical engineering.
Scholars are suggesting Mathematics as a central part of the science
applied in engineering and theoretical foundations of the world. A
recent statistics from National Examination Council (NECTA) has
shown a decline in students' performance in national examinations
which according to this study has happened because of the low
performance of mathematical learning styles at primary and secondary
school levels. There are many factors that have attributed the mass
failure of students in mathematics. These factors include less or no
textbook ownership by students, less technical assistance in solving
mathematics problems (TWAWEZA, 2013).
This project aims at designing and developing a low cost embedded
computer for improving the delivery of mathematics in primary
schools. Then mathematical digital content based on the primary
schools Syllabus will be developed. The developed content will be
integrated in the mathematical learning kit. Finally, the impact of the
developed product will be tested and accessed on the performance of
primary school mathematics in Tanzania.

Project Description

The artifact from this project will be used in primary schools to
promote learning of mathematics. The artifact will be a Mathematics
Learning Kit (MLK) developed from Raspberrypi microcomputer and
other components. The MLK will be a portable solar powered
computing device embedded with digital learning content which will be
used by pupils in Tanzania. Currently the coverage of national
electricity supply grid is only 14%. More than 70% of schools in
Tanzania do not have electricity. The use of solar power could be
effective in ensuring access to the digital contents by many pupils.
MLK will help in building strong foundation in mathematical skills
from the grassroots of educational career of students. Moreover, MLK
will increase mathematics learning hours to pupils.

Budget and
Contacts
$ 890,000
Members interested in the
research
1. Lucian Ngeze
2. Anthony Faustine
3. Hassan Seif
4. Steven Edward
5. Deo Shao


R6: Leveraging on Hybrid ICTs to Combat Wildlife Poaching in Tanzania

Proposed call
HDIF & DANIDA
Theme
Natural Resources Management
Introduction In recent years, Tanzania has been battling over elephant poaching. It is
reported that; about 50 elephants are killed every day. It is further
estimated that 30,000 to 38,000 elephants are poached every year for
their ivory. With statistics like this, the African elephant is doomed for
extinction in 15 to 20 years (SOS, 2014). The governments have tried to
save the lives of elephants through different campaigns under its
security agencies.
The significant development of technology developing around the
world could be an important tool to combat this crime. Technologies
such as wireless sensors, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and
scanners could be leveraged to add fuel to the battle against poaching.
These technologies could be used to design a drone surveillance system
to enhance the tracing of wildlife while in their living areas
Purpose/need/rationale The use of emerging technologies (hybrid ICTs) can significantly,
strengthen activities against poachers and the illegal ivory trade by
enhancing the capacity of local wildlife authorities to conserve and
manage elephants
Project Description The impetus of this research project is to analyze and apply various
ICTs for example tagging wildlife using RFID technology to enhance
wildlife surveillance. Data analytics techniques and prediction models
could significantly help the drone rangers in monitoring wildlife
effectively.
Budget and
Contacts
$ 1,000,000
Members interested in the
research
1:Deo Shao
2:Leyla Liana
3: Steven Edward
4: Anthony Faustine
5: Hassan Seif


R7: Development of a Smart Integrated Radio Frequency and Bicycle Pedal Energy Harvesting
Kit for Lighting Rural Areas.

Proposed call
undecided
Theme
ICT4D
Introduction Access to electricity is very important for the economic development of
a nation. According to the World Bank only 14.35% of the Tanzanians
have access to electricity, the situation is very critical in rural areas. The
lack of energy for basic human activity such as agriculture, transport,
medical care, communication, education, and enterprise marginalizes
poor people and limits their ability to increase their incomes. Several
World Bank group projects are now underway exploring means to
provide modern energy service to more than 2 billion people in the
developing countries. Renewable energy technologies are becoming
progressive popular in providing reliable services to rural areas where
there is no electrical power supply. Tanzania through Rural Energy
Agency (REA) promotes and facilitates improved access to modern
energy services in rural areas. Different projects have been developed to
provide access to electricity in rural areas, however the problem is still
far from over.
To address this problem different energy harvesting techniques can be
used. This project will be devoted to scale up attainment of the REA
objectives by developing a smart integrated renewable energy
harvesting solution.

Purpose/need/rationale The lack of energy for basic human activity such as agriculture,
transport, medical care, communication, education and enterprise
marginalizes poor people and limits their ability to increase their
incomes. About 80% of the population in Tanzania lives in rural areas
where most of the agricultural products are cultivated. To large
percent, the Tanzanian GDP depends on the agriculture. However, the
livelihood of the community in rural areas is still experiencing socio-
economic challenges such as the lack of infrastructure and electric
power supply. Improving rural livelihoods could escalate economic
growth and increase employment opportunities in rural areas.
With the advancement of technology worldwide, there is a serious need
for innovative and smart approaches in improving the rural wellbeing.
Sustainable electric power supply could be one of the first attempts in
improving the rural livelihoods.
Innovative approaches to increase electric power supply in rural areas
are needed to provide sustainable power solution in rural areas.
Renewable energy sources like solar, wind and biomass are currently
one of the most technologies in place. However these technologies have
high initial installation cost and their reliability is limited. In most rural
areas the means of transport used are bicycles and motorcycles
(bodaboda) which can be utilized to produce electricity through
conversion of kinetic energy. Furthermore, the increase of information
and communication technologies adoption such as TV, cellular phones
(61%) and radio in the rural areas lead to increase of Radio frequencies
signals in these areas. These Radio Frequency (RF) signals can be
significantly leveraged to produce electricity for rural lighting.
Most of the current initiatives of harvesting renewable energies do not
offer a smart way for managing the harvested energy. For example, it is
hard to balance the production and consumption of energy generated.
The consumers do not have a mechanism of optimizing the
consumption of energy at their homes.

The overall significance from this project is contribution to efforts of
the government in lighting rural community through innovative
approaches of energy harvesting technology. It is quite evident that an
increased coverage of electric power in rural areas would improve the
livelihood. It is expected the solution that will be delivered in this
project will be able not only lighting the community but also power the
ICT tools such as radios, and mobile phones and therefore increase
access to information. Eventually, the digital divide will be reduced in
rural areas through access to information.
The project aims at achieving the following
1. Design an integrated Radio Frequency (RF) and bicycle pedal
energy harvesting system.
2. Develop smart integrated Radio Frequency (RF) and bicycle
pedal energy harvesting system for lighting rural areas.
3. Design and development of a power efficient LED lamp for
rural areas.
4. Assessment and evaluation of the impacts of the developed
solution on reduction of usage of fossil fuel based lighting
product in rural Tanzania.
Project Description

Budget and
Contacts

Members interested in the
research
1: Anthony Faustine
2. Deo Shao
3. Nyaura
4.
5.


R8: UjamaaCom: A Low Cost Cellular Network For Rural Communities in
Developing Countries

Proposed call
Undecided
Theme
ICT4D
Introduction
Cellular coverage is often lacking in low population
density and low income rural areas of the developing
world like Tanzania, this is because big
telecommunication companies hesitate to deploy their
expensive infrastructure in these areas fearing
unprofitability. It is proposed that the use of cellular
open source technologies as the basis for a new rural
cellular network can go a long way in meeting this
challenge by providing coverage in rural areas whilst
simultaneously bringing down the cost of
communication.
In the previous study, we have studied and compared
existing cellular open source technologies and identifed
the one which is most suitable for rural environments. A
prototype based on the identified open-source
technology was designed and implemented. Testing the
performance of the prototype network to confirm the
viability of such a solution was undertaken in a
labaratory setting and the results confirmed the
feasibility of deploying such a network in rural areas as a
credible alternative to conventional mobile operator
network in a bid to solve the challenge.
Therefore, this project seek to extends the previous
study by setting up (installing) the proposed prototype in
a typical rural setting, evaluating its real time
performace and consequently designing a stable, low
power and cost-effective off-the shelf cellular network
for rural communications in developing countries.

Purpose/need/rationale
The lack of transportation infrastructure, high illiteracy
levels, and migrant labor are some characteristics of
rural areas that emphasize the need for real-time voice
communication. In addition, even more than in the
developed world, voice communication in the developing
world is a strong enabler of political freedom, economic
growth and efficient health care. However while
residents of developed countries spend on average 2%
of their monthly income on cellular service, the cost in
developing countries is closer to 12%. In addition, the
ability of residents in developing regions to access
cellphone technology is limited by poor cellular coverage.
Low population density without grid power and low
income in rural areas makes them unprofitable for
telecommunication companies to invest in these areas.
This is because operators are unwilling to make the large
infrastructure investments (or pay the large operating
costs) required to operate in areas without enough users
to cover expenses. Surveys have showed that in
Tanzania, 75% of the population live in these low
population density and low income rural areas (Thomas,
2007). The highest levels of technology penetration in
these areas are enjoyed by cellular networks, but even
they cover only 25% of the population (World Bank,
2006). As a result the problem of cellular coverage in
rural areas cannot be solved by traditional cellular
technologies and conventional telecommunication
companies which are driven by the need to make a
profit.
To address this challenge, recently, the Tanzanian
government has taken the initiative to set up the
Universal Communication Access Fund (UCAF) aiming to
provide low cost telecommunication services in rural and
undeserved areas. The fund was established in 2006
with an initial amount of 48 billion to provide low cost
telecommunication connections in rural and underserved
areas across the country, 1.6 million people were
targeted in the first phase of the programme (UCAF,
2012).
Despite this government initiative, the challenge of
coverage in rural areas has not been solved. And recent
statistics show that over 5 million people have no access
to communications (TCRA, 2012).
In our view, cellular open source technologies which
emphasize software based implementation of the
communication processes instead of costly hardware
equipment can be the foundation for a new alternative
cellular network that is ideally suited for rural conditions
in developing countries like Tanzania. In (John et al,
2013), we made an attempt to study the various
existing cellular open source technologies, the
appropriate technology that is most suited to rural
Tanzania was identified. An implementation of a
prototype based on the technology in a laboratory
setting followed whereby the viability of the network has
been confirmed.
Therefore, this project seek to extends the previous
study by setting up (installing) the proposed prototype in
a typical rural setting, evaluating its real time
performace and consequently designing a stable, low
power and cost-effective off-the shelf cellular network
for rural communications in developing countries.

Project Description
The project will begin by studying the requirements of a
low cost cellular network that is suited for rural areas in
developing Tanzania and conclude by running a
prototype network in a chosen rural environment for
further requirement collection and analysis, thereafter a
stable and complete low cost cellular infrastructure
based on the prior prototype with the main aim of
serving all rural needs will be developed, finally, a fully
functional network that has integrated billing and value
added services and a front end gateway to other
operators will be developed.
The project aims at achieving the following
1. Perform in-situ evaluation of the proposed prototype in a typical
village setting in Tanzania with the aim of identifying requirements for
developing stable open cellular infrastructure for rural communications.
2. Design and implement complete and stable cellular infrastructure
with the following design goals: minimum power consumption,
reduced infrastructure cost, easy to implement and that continues to
utilize existing GSM handsets.
3. Integrate other useful modules such as billing system, value added
services which will address rural communities challenges in areas such
as education and health.
Design and integrate a gateway to interface and interconnect with other
cellular operators

Budget and
Contacts

Members interested in the
research
1. Anthony Faustine
2. Nyaura Kibinda
3. Deo