A Kenyan techie has designed and developed a mobile application, Akida that keeps track of mobile staff and those located in remote sites. The application picks the GPS coordinates, a date and time log for attendance and facial verification that employees can use the reporting feature for feedback.
The system allows users to check in using a username and password as well as take a photo of themselves, which they submit; they are also expected to report on their daily activities and receive important information using their mobile phones and receive notifications from their employers through an alerts feature.
Catherine Kiguru who rans Ukall, a technology startup started the innovation 3 years ago starting it off within a local security firm working with their staff and was tasked with automating their operations and is now eyeing the larger East African market.
The application roll out is in a quest to address the challenges surrounding time, attendance and authentic payroll processing to ensure ‘the right people in the right place at the right time’, eliminate costly and ineffective paperwork and supervision, streamline operations and process and address the perennial problems of ghost workers.
The application runs on any low cost smart phone with GPS and camera features and is available on Windows and Android.
The innovation has attracted a wide customer base with partnerships with Microsoft under their 4Africa initiative, seal company and a well established Indian based ICT firm to grow and reach other markets and .”The response has been very positive and we are optimistic the number of users will rise given the quantity of the enquiries we are receiving day by day,” said Kiguru
