Story, Louvier Kindo Tombe
The applications were presented to the public during the first ever organized open door day of the institution that took place on Tuesday, October 17, 2023 in Yaounde. The project was developed under the banner of YIBS Tech Groove, which is an initiative of the president of the institution, Mr Acho Godfred Taku. His idea is to effectively instill in the students, innovative and practical skills relating to computer engineering.
“Here in YIBS, we bring out solutions to our day to day problems,” says Deyou Cyril, coordinator of YIBS Tech Groove and Head of Department of computer engineering.
Engineer Deyou Cyril was speaking as he ushered the students to present their innovations to the public and government officials present.
The ceremony brought together representatives from various government ministries such as; Post and Telecommunications, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicraft, Employment and Vocational Training, Housing and Urban Development, Supreme State Audit just to name but these. Also present was the mayor of Yaounde VI Sub Division, and parents of the students who came to celebrate the talents of their children.
Speaking at the opening of the open door, the president of YIBS, Mr. Acho Godfred Taku, said “we are celebrating hard work, creativity, and skills from the students, dedication of the lectures and commitment of parents”.
“I encourage you to continue in this same spirit, YIBS will always support you and take your initiatives to a different level,” Mr Acho Godfred Taku told the computer engineering students.
Way forward
The development and presentation of the innovative applications by the students of YIBS was just the first phase of the journey.
“We are developing an incubator for Startups at YIBS that will host these projects and many more,” engineer Deyou Cyril told News Upfront.
The students will have to mature their projects in the incubator before it’s being used by the general public. While presenting the projects, the students pleaded with all and sundry to support the initiatives financially, materially and morally.
Speaking on behalf of the Vice Chancellor of the Yaounde International Business School, Rev Prof Anyambod Emmanuel Anya, one of the board members, Prof. Charles Fon Abi, revealed that YIBS is out to train students who will not be job seekers, but will go out and instead create jobs for others. “That is our vision at YIBS,” he said, adding that “we also focus on the religious background of our students”.
The start-ups
Most of the projects presented by the computer engineering students of YIBS centered around; school management system, hospital management system, cash management system, waste management system, among others.
One of the applications that caught the attention of many, was the cash management app known as “PAYAM“.
“The application helps solve the issue of scarcity of coins in the country faced by both customers and business persons,” says Azonaku Gareth, Co-founder of PAYAM.
The application provides a platform where users can pay for their services through electronic means without demanding for coins in exchange. “It is fast to use, stress free and user friendly,” she added.
Other key applications presented in the school management system were; Facepass, S-FAS, GSM Attendance System, YIBS Connect, and YIBS SMS. These applications help both the administration, lecturers, students and parents to connect with one another, monitor attendance in classes, manage registration easily and exchange important academic information in real time.
Beside academic applications, the students equally designed an application to help manage health issues in hospitals and other health facilities. The application is known as ‘HealthHelp‘. It provides access to patients to book appointments, doctors to coordinate their activities and for hospital administration to monitor progress through the various data collected and processed by the application.
At the end of the presentations, the parents were very much satisfied, and encouraged YIBS to continue in its distinct educational system.
