The first-ever Kinyarwanda DeepSpeech Hackathon is coming to the Digital Transformation Center Kigali on 26-27 February 2022. Hosted by Mozilla, in partnership with the FAIR Forward – Artificial Intelligence for all projects of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), and Digital Umuganda, a Rwandan artificial intelligence (AI) startup, this event will bring together software developers and start-ups with the aim to create innovative solutions using Mozilla’s new voice recognition software called the Kinyarwanda DeepSpeech RESTful API.
Developed together with Digital Umuganda, the voice recognition software was built using voice datasets that were collected and used to train computer systems to speak and interpret Kinyarwanda through machine learning – a technology that enables computer systems to act without being explicitly programmed by learning and improving from data and patterns.
Speaking on the event, Remy Muhire, Community Lead on Voice Technology at Mozilla in Rwanda said:
“Voice recognition is an alternative to typing on a keyboard. You talk to a computer or a smartphone and words ‘magically’ appear on a screen. The software behind this technology ‘takes’ the sound waves in the air and translates them into their digital representation, which a computer or a smart device can understand. Using voice recognition software, we can quickly order for a taxi, food, or request for government services by simply talking to a bot,” he explained.
“We look forward to seeing the innovative solutions Rwandan talents can come up with during the upcoming Kinyarwanda DeepSpeech Hackathon and voice technologies becoming the primary way that people will interact with machines and AI-driven technologies like personal or task-specific assistants.”
The hackathon offers an opportunity for Rwandan innovators to create software applications that improve the way people interact with machines and AI-driven technologies like personal or task-specific assistants in Kinyarwanda.
Up to 40 participants organized in teams of four will take part in the two-day hackathon and the top three teams will be given cash prizes. Winning solutions will be chosen based on their ability to increase access to digital products and services and scale.
“Our objective is to make people’s lives convenient by taking advantage of Mozilla’s voice technologies to bridge the information access gap and improve service provision. As more Rwandans own devices like smartphones, building applications that support Kinyarwanda will fast-track Rwanda’s ambition to become a knowledge-based economy,” said Audace Niyonkuru, the Digital Umuganda Chief Executive Officer.
“As FAIR Forward, one of our objectives is to build communities around open AI training data and models in our partner countries. The hackathon is a great way to raise awareness around the Mozilla Common Voice dataset for Kinyarwanda as well as the RESTful API. The developers will have the chance to use these open resources to work on their own projects and solutions to solve societal challenges in Rwanda,” added Kim Schulte, Regional Focal Point Africa at FAIR Forward.
Mozilla’s work is guided by the Mozilla Manifesto. Founded as a community open source project in 1998, Mozilla currently consists of two organizations: the 501(c)3 Mozilla Foundation, which leads our movement building work; and its wholly-owned subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation, which leads our market-based work. The two organizations work in close concert with each other and a global community of tens of thousands of volunteers under the single banner: Mozilla. Learn more
Digital Umuganda is an East African Artificial intelligence company based in Kigali, Rwanda. Digital Umuganda has a focus on Voice Chabot development and open infrastructure development. We have been working with Rwanda Government Institutions, German development agency (GIZ), and Mozilla to democratize access to voice technology. Learn more
The project “Artificial Intelligence for All – FAIR Forward” is dedicated to the open and sustainable development and application of artificial intelligence and particularly supports partner countries in Africa and Asia on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. (End)