University Student Wins Save the Children’s Digital Innovation Challenge

Mack Maranga, 23, is the winner of Save the Children’s Digital Innovation Challenge in a competition that attracted 163 competitors.

His innovation, Toto Register is a digital attendance system that is designed to take the daily attendance of students in Kenya.

The system which will utilize mobile app will allow teachers to import student lists, mark attendance, and transmit the data securely to a backend server.

The university student walked away with a cash prize of Ksh. 250,000 and an opportunity to collaborate with Save the Children to customize and scale up his innovation and or get a 12-month fellowship program to develop and implement it further.

He is a journalism and mass media communications graduate who is also pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from the University of London.

Gift Mumbi KCA University student was 1^st runner-up for her innovation, Maoni Mtaani. a feedback mechanism system which provides real-time data on issues facing children and communities.

Sydney Aurah was the 2^nd runner-up for his innovation, Mwalimu Smart, a chatbot and SMS-based learning platform targeting children in pastoralist communities.

The duo will get Ksh. 150,000 and Ksh. 100,000 respectively.

The organization received 163 submissions across the country. From this, they narrowed down to 12 innovators who got a chance to pitch their innovations to a panel of five judges.

‘We were extremely impressed by the caliber of entries we received for the digital innovations. It demonstrated the remarkable talent and creativity Kenyan youth possess,’ said Hellen Owiti, Director for Programme Development and Quality at Save the Children Kenya and Madagascar Country Office.

The innovation challenge was launched on the 15^th of December, 2022 and ran up to the 31^st of January 2023. I

It targeted Kenya’s youth and students from institutions of higher learning and was aimed at recognizing and awarding 18-35 year olds who are innovative in tackling problems that are facing children and young people in the communities.