ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Bintriks: Digitizing household waste collection

There exists a communication gap between waste collectors, recycling companies and homes from which the waste is collected. The purpose of this project is to develop a mobile application that serves as a bridge between households, middlemen who collect waste from households, and recycling companies. The application facilitates communication among the three groups for efficient coordination for waste collection process. This will be achieved through predictions and notifications. In this project a mobile application is developed to enable householders to connect with waste collectors in real-time, get contacts of middlemen in their area, provide alternative means of payment such as use of mobile money and credit cards, digitize record keeping and management, as well as showing the next day of collection. Research done showed that the problems homeowners faced was uncertainty on the next day of waste collection, and difficulty in reaching waste collectors. Middlemen complained of having to record transactions on paper and not able to easily connect with recycling companies. Recycling companies needed to be connected with people who could provide constant and reliable source of raw materials. This project solves these problems through the application. After a prototype of the project was developed and given to users for review, the users provided positive feedback on how useful such an application would be in making waste collection efficient.

Source: Ashesi
Bleslink: A Peer-To-Peer Cross-Border Air Shipping System

Cross-border air shipping remains expensive, unreliable, and less accessible for individuals and small businesses. Traditional courier services like DHL and FedEx are available but often charge high fees that make them inaccessible for casual users. Informal methods, such as relying on friends or travelers, are cheaper but come with major risks, including poor communication, lack of formal tracking, and delivery failures. This project introduces Bleslink, a peer-to-peer application that connects senders with verified air travelers who have unused luggage space, offering a reliable and affordable option for international package delivery. Bleslink uses blockchain technology to securely record confirmed shipment matches and delivery status updates. Once recorded, this information cannot be changed or erased, providing a permanent and tamper-proof record of important transactions. By combining peer-to-peer logistics with blockchain-backed record-keeping, Bleslink helps lower the cost of cross-border air shipping while improving the overall trust and reliability of the process. It also creates new opportunities for travelers, who can earn extra income by carrying packages for others.

Source: Ashesi
Blockchain-based academic credential verification system

In Ghana, academic record-keeping and verification methods have become increasingly burdensome, error-prone, and susceptible to data security, privacy, and fraud prevention issues. Traditional systems often rely on paper-based records or fragmented digital databases, which can lead to inefficiencies, human errors, and difficulties in authenticating and validating academic credentials. These challenges can hinder students' and graduates' efforts to pursue further education or employment opportunities and create administrative burdens for educational institutions and employers. Blockchain technology, an emerging innovation, offers a promising solution to address these challenges. By digitizing and securely storing academic records on a blockchain, the system will facilitate efficient, accurate, and tamper-proof verification of credentials. This will reduce errors and fraud and improve academic qualifications' overall reliability and credibility. Furthermore, the system will enhance data privacy by allowing individuals to control who can access their records and under what conditions. This applied project creates a user-friendly platform that simplifies the verification process for students, graduates, educational institutions, and employers. By harnessing the power of blockchain technology, we can revolutionize academic record-keeping and verification in Ghana, ensuring a more secure, efficient, and trustworthy system for all stakeholders involved.

Source: Ashesi
BOARD-O-BACT: An educational synthetic biology game application

From small scale mobile apps to large scale esports, games have become one of the most pervasive creations across humankind in recent years. Although initially seen as simple pastimes, the cognitive value of games has increasingly become apparent. However, the use of games as educational technology is still relatively uncommon. Likewise, the Synthetic Biology field has been gaining a lot of traction. Applications in medicine, manufacturing and agriculture have been groundbreaking and yet only scratch the surface of what may be practically achieved. Unfortunately, interest in the field does not mirror the great value it holds. In this project, a desktop game application is implemented with the goal of allowing users to entertain themselves whiles casually learning about important foundational material in the Synthetic Biology sector as well as facilitating/refreshing their intrigue in the field.

Source: Ashesi
Boosting tourism in Ghana through social media

Recreational activities in Ghana are generally limited in relation to its scope. Looking at exploration as a recreational activity that translates into activities that fall under the tourism sector, a remedy to the limitation placed on the scope of recreational activities in Ghana can in turn, boost the tourism culture that exists in Ghana. With the many technological advancements, social media has become quite common especially among the youth at large. This paper would be exploring a solution that would boost tourism through the use of social media. To have a solid backing to the claims being made in this paper, scholarly literature was reviewed to provide strong credibility to the points being made in the paper. Data gathered from questionnaires that were sent out to a target population, information from semi-structured discussions with representatives from the Ghana Tourism Authority as well as historical data also gathered from the Ghana Tourism Authority would be analysed to affirm or dispute the hypothesis of this paper. From the analysis of the data gathered, recommendations on a solution that utilizes recommendation systems in getting its audience would be a good approach to boosting the tourism culture in Ghana were given.

Source: Ashesi
Bridging The Climate Finance Gap: Investigating Possible Sources of Private Finance to Address Climate Change Issues in Ghana

The rapid escalation of climate change issues in Ghana has made it apparent that significant financial resources are needed to tackle this global menace. Unfortunately, the funding required far exceeds the current investment levels. This paper examines the climate finance gap in Ghana and explores the potential role of private sector funding in bridging this gap. By systematically reviewing existing literature, the paper identifies various sources and instruments of private climate finance, assesses the current state of climate finance in Ghana and evaluates how private finance can contribute to closing the gap. Data for this research was collected through sixteen in-depth interviews facilitated by an interview guide. Findings indicate a basic awareness of climate change issues in Ghana, along with a general willingness among individuals to contribute financially to climate related initiatives. Preferred forms of contribution include investment based financing, monetary donations, research funding and support for voluntary initiatives. The motivations driving these contributions range from potential financial returns and social responsibility to government regulations that encourage climate conscious investments. However, several barriers were identified including financial constraints, a lack of accountability regarding fund utilization and limited awareness of available funding mechanisms. Interviews with climate experts also reveal that private climate finance can contribute by supporting sector specific initiatives, incentivizing climate focused entrepreneurship and encouraging innovation in the development of local solutions to climate related challenges. Future research should explore how developing Ghana's capital market and stricter regulatory frameworks could create more opportunities for private sector participation in climate finance.

Source: Ashesi
BuddyUp: A social networking platform that allows users to connect based on shared interests within a specified radius with consideration for color blindness, mobility and cognitive impairments

Communicating with other people is a part of everyday living, which lead to the formation of friendships. When similar interests, especially comes into play, the formation of friendships with others is relatively easier. However, with the introduction of the Internet and social media applications, interactions between people have become more virtual, taking away the benefit of intimate interactions. The solution proposed is a social networking application that allows users to connect with others who share similar interests within a given radius. With the application, users can now search for people who share their interests, chat with them and proceed to meet at an agreed location. The aim of the application is to encourages users to go out to meet new people and expand their network, retaining the benefits of face-to-face interactions with other people, and build a community of like-minded people.

Source: Ashesi
Build of a low-cost autonomous surface vehicle for plastic waste collection on water bodies

The indiscriminate disposal of waste in Ghana is a pervasive problem that continues to be a big challenge for different governments. Most of this plastic waste ends up in drainages and other water bodies, posing a serious threat to both humans and marine life. Poor plastic waste disposal is a major contributor to the perennial flooding experienced in Accra as most of the plastic waste ends up drainages and impedes the flow of water during heavy rainfall. Nonetheless, there have been attempts by governements and other private institutions to solve the plastic waste menace. For instance, the government deploys trained personal who use boats with nets to remove all the plastic waste floating on the water body. This method, however, is costly, and risky as government has to cater for the costs incurred in using the services of these people as well as fuel. The workers who are involved are exposed to health risks considering the fact that some of the plastic waste may contain harmful chemicals. This project, thus, proposes a more efficient way of collecting plastic waste floating on water bodies with the aid of autonomous surface vehicle that can be operated remotely through a website. By eliminating the need for many human workers, cost is reduced and risks associated with working on water bodies are avoided. The boat was designed to carry a maximum payload of about 5kg. During testing of the whole system, the boat was inserted into the towing tank and it floated well and was able to pick up a sample waste this dumped in the water.

Source: Ashesi
Build of a low-cost prototype ROV for search and rescue

Aquatic search and rescue in Ghana and most parts of the world poses lots of disadvantages to the rescuers. Divers being tasked for each search and rescue mission risk their lives trying to locate a body or an object underwater. Sometimes, these divers are attacked by aquatic animals or even hit by submersible objects. This approach is also problematic since divers are not able to stay longer under water due to fixed oxygen tanks. This limits their search periods as they ought to resurface to fill their tanks. Solutions to curb this problem have been brought to light by building a submersible that moves through water to search while the diver stays comfortably above the water with a hand-held controller. The only problem to this solution is that it is highly expensive, and the submersible normally becomes unstable after grabbing unto an object. Other solutions also involve using smart animals to search but still require the diver to go within the water to retrieve whatever thing it is. This project seeks to prevent all these unforeseen dangers that might possibly occur to the diver by building a submersible at a lower cost. This design also sought to solve the issue of instability via a mechanical redesign. To control the submersible, the user uses a friendly hand-held controller with simple knobs and an on-board screen which receives live feed from the vehicle. The submersible was designed to carry a payload of 500g and reach a depth of 1.5m. From test simulations, it should be able to withstand external pressures at that depth. Due to project constraints, only a portion of the mechanical and electronic system could be built. This prototype design will serve as the basis for a full-scale version which promises to be cheaper and be able to lift and resurface heavier payloads depending on the materials used in constructing it

Source: Ashesi
Building a Buddy-Up pairing application for the Office of Diversity and International Programs (ODIP) at Ashesi University

Today's technology has created opportunities for connecting people faster than it used to two decades ago. Most applications like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have shown us how meaningful connections can be fostered effectively and efficiently. Understanding how social networks like Facebook and Twitter are designed and how they handle pairing constraints is essential to creating other systems that connect people. This applied project discusses designing and implementing a student buddy-up pairing system for the Office of Diversity and International Programs (ODIP) at Ashesi University, Ghana. Every academic year, the ODIP pairs continuing student buddies to serve as mentors with incoming first-year students. This pairing aims to ensure incoming first-year students transition well into college life and studies at Ashesi University. Similar to other pairing systems, the proposed system in this applied project handles several user constraints such as gender, preferred nationality, and the number of freshers continuing students would like to be paired with. However, it differs from other matching systems because it applies only a one-way matching relationship. Only continuing students specify the attributes of freshers they would like to be paired with. The outcome of this applied project is a buddy-up pairing application system that pairs freshers and continuing students while incorporating specific constraints.

Source: Ashesi
Building a cheap security solution for a smart home network using a Raspberry Pi and Snort 3

Digitisation is moving at breakneck speed, and soon almost all devices will be interconnected via a network. The goal of the Internet of Things (IoT) is to extend internet connectivity to such devices. In a smart home, examples of such devices are a toaster or a refrigerator that could be linked to the Internet and accessed remotely. This predicted future promises to improve the standard of living; however, it brings with it a new set of security challenges, such as a denial of service attack and ARP spoofing, among others. This paper therefore, seeks to discover if using Snort 3, a popular intrusion detection system deployed on a Raspberry Pi would be able to protect these devices.

Source: Ashesi
Building a framework for detecting smishing messages

Imagine receiving a text message that looks innocent enough but is a cleverly disguised attempt to steal your personal information or install malicious software on your device. This is the reality of smishing attacks, a growing threat that affects millions of people across the globe. Smishing attacks can cause significant financial harm to people worldwide who become victims. A global survey conducted by cybersecurity firm Lookout found that 56% of the respondents received either phishing or smishing messages in the past year, and 26% clicked on links. According to the survey, the average financial loss from a smishing attack was $700 [2]. Given the widespread nature of these attacks, individuals must be cautious and take measures to safeguard themselves from such attacks. The framework developed in this project provides the opportunity to develop synthetic attacks, which can be used to improve the detection and prevention of smishing attacks. By simulating a range of AI-generated smishing attacks, the framework enables organizations to develop and test more effective defense mechanisms, improving their ability to detect and prevent these types of attacks. The novel part of this project includes the first open-source/free available auto smishing generator, which researchers can use to develop synthetic smishing attacks, the creation of a smishing dataset and a smishing scoring engine that can be used to improve the effectiveness of artificial smishing attacks or auto-detect potential smishing attacks. This paper provides a detailed overview of the development of the framework, including the challenges faced and the solutions implemented. The potential applications of the framework in various contexts are discussed, and areas for future research are suggested. The code for this project can be found at https://github.com/Ashesi-Org/Smishing-Framework-.git

Source: Ashesi
Building a low-cost biomedical device to improve accuracy in pneumonia diagnosis in under five children.

Pneumonia has been the leading cause of death among children under the age of five in sub-Saharan Africa, killing more children than the number of children dying from HIV/AIDS. The current methods of diagnosing pneumonia are limited by poor sensitivity and accuracy and they are also expensive. In this project, a low-cost biomedical device was designed and developed to improve the accuracy in diagnosing pneumonia hence assisting in correct prescription of drugs to children. Sounds waves were transmitted from a surface exciter which was connected to an Arduino-powered circuit. The sounds waves were allowed to pass through one side of a lung phantom made of sponge and were detected on the other side using an electronic stethoscope. 4 dry sponges and four wet sponges were used to represent a healthy lung and a pneumonia consolidated lung respectively. The sound signals detected by the electronic stethoscope were analyzed using the Digital Signal Processing toolboxes in Audacity and MATLAB software. The difference in the resonant frequencies when the sound waves traveled through the dry and wet sponges was used to diagnose pneumonia. The device uses a non-invasive method which does not cause any health defects, unlike the chest x-ray method which can cause cancer due to its use of electromagnetic radiation to diagnose pneumonia. The results were then discussed for the design and application in pneumonia diagnosis in infants

Source: Ashesi
Building a low-cost motion capture suit for animation

Motion capture has become a major player in the film and animation industry. Mimicking natural and subtle movements of humans and animals has made animation a lot more believable and engaging. This paper presents a low-cost design of a motion capture unit based on the ESP32 and a 9-DOF inertial sensor Bno055. A calibration method based on a standing posture is used. The sensors data are retrieved via the serial port of the Arduino IDE and sent to Blender, a 3D program, to display real-time motion. If a believable performance can be achieved with low-cost inertial sensors, then the overall cost of existing motion capture technology can be reduced.

Source: Ashesi
Building a map-based transit planner for the tro-tro system in Accra

Technology has been a useful tool in the way we transcend our limitations as human beings. In the transport sector, we have seen remarkable improvements such as the variety of modes through which we travel as well as the applications that make planning our journey more easy and effective. Transit planning applications have been used in developing countries to make sense of their transportation systems and to help people travel in more effective ways. However, most of these applications have limited coverage or reduced functionality when used in developing countries such as Ghana since the data these functions depend on are usually inexistent. In this project, a transit planning application is implemented to make use of tro-tro data to help users obtain a travel itinerary for their journeys within Accra while minimizing travel distance and time.

Source: Ashesi
Building a mobile-first data optimized quiz management system

The advent of the covid-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the trend toward online learning. Unfortunately, students in certain areas face challenges with the online learning mode due to poor internet bandwidth and high internet costs. Some students also use their mobile devices as their primary devices for online learning. To address these issues, a mobile-first data-optimized quiz platform was proposed. The platform would support some features of a quiz management system, such as an administrative section where lecturers can create, modify, and delete questions and a quiz-taking component for students.

Source: Ashesi
Building a POS terminal and an online shop for Nativeland Ghana

Information technology plays an increasingly important role in the management of complex retail operations. The modern world is integrating technology into different parts of business, educational system, healthcare and many more. Customer service and experience is key, and it is important that a business aims to provide high-end service to their customers. Nativeland is a small retail outlet that sells household and office products. However, they make use of the traditional manual method of inventory management and sales tracking, where all records and data are handwritten. My proposed solution to this problem is the Nativeland POS terminal. A custom-built point-of-sale system that will replace the traditional manual method of handling business operations, from inventory management to sales reporting.

Source: Ashesi
Building a pothole detection and tracking system

Building and maintaining infrastructure is often a key challenge in developing countries, and Ghana is no exception. Increasing population and car ownership rates coupled with poor maintenance cultures result in a corresponding increase in the rate of damage of roads, causing deformities such as cracks and potholes. These road deformities not only negatively impact a country’s road infrastructure and the cars which ply said roads, but also pose a threat to road users. In Ghana, only two mobile maintenance units are charged with monitoring the roads in all ten regions of the country. Thus, this project presents Pothole Tracker Ghana, a two-tiered application inspired by the idea of crowdsourcing. Consisting of a vision-based pothole classification system implemented on a Raspberry Pi and a map-based web application, this project aims to reduce the barriers to data collection on poor road infrastructure on the part of governments whilst allowing everyday road users to make informed decisions concerning their journeys. Three different algorithms are considered and compared for the classification task; logistic regression, support vector machines (SVM) and a hybrid algorithm incorporating a convolutional neural network (CNN) and SVM. The tuned SVM is chosen for the final system implementation.

Source: Ashesi