On 13th February, IEEE Kenya officially launched its EPICS project to provide access for visually impaired persons to educational content on mobile devices with the signing of an MoU between IEEE Kenya, Automated Systems Research and the Kenya Society for the Blind.
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Left to right: Juliana Kivasu- CEO, Kenya Society for the Blind; Vincent Kaabunga –
Chair, IEEE Kenya; Moses Gichanga – CEO, Automated Systems Research
Under the EPICS project, five IEEE student branch members will work under the supervision of ASR to implement an automated system that will enable visually impaired persons to access SMS and email-based content using low cost mobile phones. Additionally, eight visually impaired pre-university students from the Kenya Integrated Education Programme will also participate in the project.
The project is also being supported by SAMSUNG under their initiative to develop local content for the mobile platform.
It is envisaged that the system will ultimately become a revenue generation source for the society when the service is made available to the general public.
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Photos of IEEE President Peter W. Staecker with Dr. Imaana Kibaaya Laibuta, who is blind and is serves as a Commisioner at the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution.