Kentechie meaning techies in Kenya, is a community platform for tech support for the Kenyan tech user just like the Stack Exchange sites.
The platform was launched June 2012 by Bosco Wambua Mutung’a, a Computer Science last year student at the University of Nairobi, who says has had a long-standing passion for technology since childhood, from video games to hacking micro controllers and ” its this love that made me want to create a platform for a community of tech lovers.”
Q&A Approach Is Effective
According to Mutung’a “The Q&A approach is quite effective for solving problems as opposed to the traditional forum which encourages a lot of discussion and debate.”
He says the Q&A style is quite straight forward, and provides immediate solutions to problem, together with the ability to curate and choose the best solution, and this is done by the community itself.
And there is problem he is solving.
According to him people using technology experience various problems and do not always find manuals to their devices or how to’s sites. Calling experts means another cost and time might also be lost in the process. Q&A sites such as Ask, Yahoo Answers, Stack Overflow, the network of stack exchange sites, Quora and the likes have been of help to thousands.
Local Needs
Mutung’a says, this sites are all great but lack the local context.
He says,”For instance, questions about a local internet provider or advice on services offered locally by a tech company or how to find a specific device within Kenya. These type of questions need a community of tech experts based in Kenya, and that is what Kentechie aims to become, a tech support platform for local needs.”
The founder expects to make his cut when through advertising as companies with a need to reach the youth and techies could use the site to do so. Now with over 57 questions and 108 answers, Kentechie has 40 active users just days after its launch.
Vote Top Answers
“The voting system guarantees quality answers given and makes the site professional,” he says and adds that high-ranking users are trusted to produce good answers.
Though free code for Q&A sites can be obtained freely, Mutung’a says the journey has not been easy. He says,”Getting users on board and building an active community is hard and it takes a lot of patience.”
Mutung’a says this 2013 he is embarking on an extensive awareness campaign on social networks and add a deals section to increase the user community.
