Tanzania Technicians Galaxy

Currently, majority of technicians in Tanzania are not reliably accessed by their customers as they don’t have a platform to advertise their good works they do because they can’t afford advertising their good works in media. This leads to few jobs mainly based referrals from friends and relative, hence low income.

The Tanzania’s Technicians Galaxy will be a digital online directory of informal technicians and will connect a large network of technicians to their new clients by showcasing their good work they do in a bid to impress their customers. Technicians will freely be able to open online account with their contact details. In the account, they will upload picture and videos as samples of the good work they have done some places. This way, new and continuing clients will have faith on the technicians after their quality works, offer them jobs and hence increase income to the informal technicians. 

More than 76% of technicians in Tanzania and 70% in many African countries are characterized by informal technicians who do a lot of good work with the little knowledge they have. Masons, plumbers, tailors, auto mechanic technicians, to mention a few, all do earn income by referrals from people they have rendered the service or friends and relatives because they can’t afford advertising their good works in media. To a large extent this limits their chances of growing their promising projects and earning more money.

The Tanzania’s Technician Galaxy (TTG) will bring together all types of technicians to a digital platform that will allow them to showcase their good work they do so they can impress their customers and lead them to enter into jobs agreements. The economy of many African countries very low and can not allow these technicians to get money to advertise through media. With the TTG, many technicians will have a free platform to advertise their good work and products they offer. Clients on the other hand will have a readily accessible platform to reach to many technicians and that will be making more money to the technicians through widened market. 

The Tanzania Technicians Galaxy will require to have a website which will be reachable in both computer and mobile device friendly version so as to access the many people in Tanzania using the smart phones. On the website, technicians of all kinds, informal and formal will have to create an account on the website where they will have their contact details stored. This will enable their new clients to reach them when they will be impressed with the work they are doing.

Linked to each account, there will be a place for account owner to upload photos and video of the good works they have done which they want to show their clients how competent they are. The uploading space will be enough to allow technicians to upload many samples that will clearly show their competency. The ceiling designers for instance, will upload video and photos of their enticing works they have done in the past. Clients will get the contacts from the website and call technician of their choice. With the website, technicians will get jobs from various parts of the country and even in the neighboring countries as the website will cross the borders.  

Over 70% of the technicians in Tanzania are youths aged 35 years and below with the remaining percentage being adults above 35 years of age. These age groups are for people with families, in many cases, living with dependents as it is with the extended family ties available in Tanzania. These people have many social and economic needs for them to meet for their families but many can’t afford because they don’t have a wide-open door to the market available. Their family end up missing the basic needs needed to thrive in life. There are many cases of school drop outs, street children, commercial sex and street idleness, just to mention a few, which are highly caused by lack of access to the market.

Since there are many technicians in Tanzania who are able to do good technical jobs and earn money, the TTG will offer this platform for these cadre so they can access the market from all the angles of Tanzania. With the TTG, new clients will be able to see the sample works of technicians from another regions in Tanzania and be able to connect together for job to be done and hence more revenues to technicians.

Many of the technicians in Tanzania do small businesses which are unsuccessful and untapped as many people don't reach them because they can't advertise their businesses. The technicians can't get many jobs that can lead to their business to proper and grow their capital for further investment. The TTG will create a digital network of these technicians where clients will be easily accessing them from the single source, view their work, get contacts, make calls and enter into agreements for works ahead and in the end, technicians will create more income and hence prosperous for further investment.

The online Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) will apply the technology to reach a new group of people who have never been reached Tanzania through online platform. Many of the online platforms in Tanzania do advertise new and used items.

With our TTG, it will be the first Tanzania's online technician directory where the technicians will be connected to their clients from all over the country and abroad. The fact that technicians will be able to upload picture and video of their work to their account, will allow clients to reach their desired clients from as far as 1,200 Kms within the borders of Tanzania and do jobs they couldn't have done if there was no this platform. Clients will be satisfied with the quality of the technicians they are looking for and instantly get contacts details, communicate and even share preparatory details for their upcoming job before they even meet. 

This in its own will be fantastic as it will create job opportunities for technicians in the market but also attract new one to enter into various cadres knowing the TTG will connect them to a wider market. Interestingly, the TTG will possibly expand the market to neighboring countries in the remaining five countries in the East African Community. The TTG will be advertised even to the neighbor countries and definitely technicians in Tanzania will get jobs there travel to these countries which will not only earn them more income but also foreign currency to be invested in Tanzania.   

Our solution will employ the technology that is being used by other solutions such as Online Marketing and other social media networking in the world. We will use this same technology in Tanzania to reach the marginalized various technicians in Tanzania who are not easily accessible by many people except through referrals. 

Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) will connect technicians with clients who also find it very difficult to get qualified technicians for various jobs as currently there is no digital platform linking the two parties. The TTG will be accessible through website for both PCs and mobile devices and also mobile Apps that will enable to reach many people through their smartphones. 

Many people in Tanzania do have smart phones for various use and TTG will take advantage of that to have an APP which will be a solution to all Tanzanias looking for any technician at anytime in their palm through their phones. Currently, Tanzanians rely mostly on friends and relative referrals to get a good technician they need. With the TTG, through their TTG App and website, the technicians will be reliably reached weighed of their competency through the work they have done in the past visible on pictures and videos in the platform.

Its anticipated the TTG App will get more prominence in the country for being the number one solution any search of a technicians a client will be looking for and that will generate more income to the technicians and prosper more.

It's fair to say the Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) will utilize the widely used and accepted technology in the world. The onlibe TTG directory will basically operate like many social networks like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and other online marketing platforms mostly used for selling new and used items such as cars, furniture etc. All these are widely accepted in Tanzania and many people use them to access friends, relatives, sending messages to public and also buying items and properties. The settings of the these platforms will have somewhat be the same to TTG and the level of application will almost be the same which will be easy for many people to adopt to. 

The TTG will come into market with a new target of technicians that has never been targeted by any digital platform in Tanzania. A notable successful example employing this model is the Lynk Company in Kenya reachable www.lynk.co.ke  which has reach more that 25,500 professionals. The experience shows that many people have mobile phones and used them largely for chatting and visiting social media. The TTG App to be created, will also add into their shelves many technicians to contact to when their upcoming jobs are due to be done. The TTG will reduce the hassle many people have been having in reaching out to the best technicians they want.

My theory of change is based on the increasing number of mobile smartphone users in Tanzania and the simplicity of the Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) to mobile users. In 2018, there were 43,497,261 mobile phone subscribers out of 53,853,702 Tanzania's population which was 80.77% penetration rate. The Tanzania's internet customer numbered 22,281,727 which was 41.37% penetration rate (Wikipedia).

These numbers of internet users are big enough to attract many people to turn to our TTG App which will be providing what is needed by many people and also simplified the contacting of the technicians needed at a everyone's convenience. 

The TTG will require to have a website which will be reachable in both computer and mobile App. Technicians will create an account on website and App and have their contact details stored and will upload photos and video of their works done showing their competency. Clients will contact them when impressed with their work. The uploading space will be enough to allow technicians to upload many samples that will clearly show their competency. The ceiling designers for instance, will upload video and photos of their enticing works they have done in the past. Clients will get the contacts from the website and call technician of their choice. With the website, technicians will get jobs from various parts of the country and even in the neighboring countries as the website will cross the borders.  

Over a time, technicians will start getting more number of clients contacting them for more jobs. They will even get jobs from other parts of the country because the TTG App will be accessed anywhere. The traditional way of working withing the neighborhood will be over they will get jobs even from the neighboring countries. Their customer base will increase and they will make more revenues than they are currently earning. Consequently, their families welfare will also be improved and start getting social and economic needs they were missing. More people will see the value of doing technician jobs and more will be attracted to it and generally there will be an improved economic status among technicians. 

In the first year of the project, it is estimated that 2,000,000 technicians will open their accounts to the TTG platform and around 10,000,000 online traffic to the TTG platform will be reached. These will be people visiting the TTG platform in search of competent technicians they will be looking for their different works in needs. 

As for the period of the next five years, it is estimated that the number f technicians opened their accounts in on TTG will be around 20,000,000 while the number of users visiting the website will be more that 100,000,000. The number of website and App visits is estimated to be counted per number of times the clients will visit the website in search of technicians they can suit for their future works to be done. 

In the long run, the number of people reached through the TTG, technicians opening accounts and people visiting the TTG platform will be even more higher when the referrals and advertisement will be done particularly after the effectiveness of the TTG. The inclusion of other technological referral systems such as artificial intelligence, will also add more people to be reached as the number of traffic will bring more attraction to google facilities such as Google Adsense and many more people will be reached.  

My goals for Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) project for next year is to introduce the TTG platform to many people in Tanzania to at least 12,000,000 people where 2,000,000 will be technicians who will open their accounts and start using the TTG platform to connect to their clients and around 10,000,000 people will be prospective clients to the technicians already with accounts on TTG and using it. These numbers will mean around 12,000,000 do know about the TTG and the business networks it can connect to many technicians and clients in Tanzania and that the former will have started earning more money resulting from the networks established by the availability of TTG platform.

As for the next five years, it's estimated that more than 25,000,000 people will be reached through the TTG while 5,000,000 will be technicians and 20,000,000 will be clients visiting the TTG.

For these goals to be achieved, we will advertise the TTG project on media and social media tools in Tanzania. Where funds available, we will also advertise through the roadshows in streets, distribution of brochures and leaflets to the public. The advertisement will help to inform the public on the availability of the TTG and how it positively impacts the lives of all the technicians and easily simplify the accessibility of the technicians by their clients.    

The main barriers that are seen to be the obstacle in accomplishing my goals for this project in the next year and five years to come are in the areas of financial and technical. Since the project will be a new one in Tanzania, we will require to have enough funds to operate the project to its fullest potential. This will include to have money to employ competent staffs, full time or part time, to run the project in a more professional manner that will attract more people to the project theory. The project will need to have financial staff and IT technical who will be responsible for developing the software and make all the routine updates of the TTG system to better suit the needs of our customers. With the availability of the funds to finance the project, running costs such as office rent costs, recurrent costs and advertisement costs will make it easier for the project to meet its goals.

The other areas such as legal, cultural and market are not anticipated to be a barrier as for now the Tanzanian government and business operation is well supporting this kind of projects and it should not be a barrier if the project was to commence. There are simple procedures that will need to be followed for the business to be legal in a relatively short period of time and the project will be up and running. 

The biggest barrier in this project will be lack of funds to operate the Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) project. To overcome this, once the project is up and running, we will seek sponsors from companies, small and big businesses and organizations in Tanzania whom will will enter into agreement to fund the project. The funding will be in a form of win-win situation where they will be allowed to have space in our TTG platform to advertise their businesses in exchange of funds they will give us in return to operate the project. It is anticipated that the huge number of traffic to our TTG will attract many companies to sponsor our operations. We will also link our TTG site to online traffic advertisements such as Google Adsense which will also earn us more money. The funds raised will fund the daily operations of the project including paying wages for staffs working in the project.

Should we make it to the final stage of the competition, the $10,000 prize given at the final will be the starting fund to fund the project in its initial stages. The fund will be enough to fund construction of the site and all the related costs in establishing a company and all other paper works needed for a business to start. Further business proposals will be written to companies in search of sponsorship funds to make the project operate in a more sustainable manner. 

Our solution team will be dependent and will not be part of a larger organization

The Tanzania Technician Galaxy is expected to have a total number of six staffs. The CEO and Founder, Software Developer, Accountant, two Marketing Officers and an Administrative Assistant. All these will be working on full time basis in the beginning of the project. In the later stages as the project grows, more staffs will be employed on part-time basis as need arises. The reason the project will need all the six full time workers in the beginning is to get their full attention directed to the development of the project. 

The Tanzania Technician Galaxy (TTG)has a team of well experiences staffs in various area of business project management. The CEO and Founder of TTG has led successful projects in other business endeavors. The CEO will be working side by side with the Software Developer Manager who has developed at least ten successful software projects in Tanzania having the same qualities as the TTG and that gives a promising future of our upcoming project. 

The two staffs, CEO and Software Developer Manager will recruit more competent staffs who can bring their vast experience into this project and hence lead to its success. The recruitment of the other four staffs will be done few months prior establishment of the project in Tanzania. The timing of the recruitment is intentional aiming at minimizing unnecessary costs to the project in the beginning. As the project gradually develops, more staffs, marketing officers, accountant and administrative accountant will all be brought in as needs arise.    

We currently haven't established any partnership in place for this project but we do have good plans of contacting potential partners who will have mutual benefits while partnering with Tanzania Technician Galaxy (TTG). 

We will contact mobil-phone companies operating in Tanzania to have simple terms on internet charges to our clients surfing our website in exchange of us giving them space to advertise on our website. Companies such as Vodacom TZ, TIGO, Airtel, Halotel and Zantel will all be contacted for partnership. It is anticipated that these companies will be attracted to our website and TTG App as it will be having high traffic suitable for them to advertise. The simple terms on internet charges to clients surfing our website and App will attract more people and in return will lead to more success to the project and the people reaching the technicians and technicians getting more income.

The project will also seek partnership to non-mobile phone companies that will find it suitable to advertise on the TTG website. With the high number of people projected to be visiting the TTG platform, it is highly anticipated that many high profile companies will find it very hard to resist the opportunity of sponsoring our TTG project and get space to advertise on our site. As the project grows, more partners will be added in the list agreements suiting both sides will be entered for the the betterment of each side. 

The Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) will connect technicians with clients they never knew before just by seeing their good works in form of photos and videos posted in their TTG platform. Clients will meet competent technicians they never met before, regardless of the distances, just by perusing the TTG. The TTG will remove a barrier for both sides. Clients will view technician work online, get contacts and ask some questions and clarifications where needed, exchange discussions and when done they can meet. 

The current practice in Tanzania limits technicians to their location boundaries and their good work is only known by very few people residing in the same location. That limits their expansion and growth of their businesses. Likewise, clients are also limited to technicians available in their locations regardless of their incompetency as they are left with no choice but to contract them to do their jobs. The TTG will break these boundaries by bringing both clients and technicians together through online posting of their sample works. Interestingly, the TTG will even cross borders of Tanzania and connect technicians with clients in the neighboring countries of the other five countries in the East African Community. This will be the case as the online TTG platform will be accessible worldwide and should the technicians happen to impress online with their good works, clients from the neighboring countries will more likely to contract them, hence, not only increase income but also earn foreign currency to be invested in Tanzania.   

Our project will seek sponsorship from companies and humanitarian organizations in Tanzania whom will enter into agreement to fund the project. The funding will be in a form of win-win situation where they will be allowed to have space in our TTG platform to advertise their businesses in exchange of funds they will give us in return to operate the project. It is anticipated that the huge number of traffic to our TTG will attract many companies to sponsor our operations. We will also link our TTG site to online traffic advertisements such as Google Adsense which will also earn us more money. 

Should we make it to the final stage of the competition, the $10,000 prize given at the final will be injected in the project and expand on areas needed to grow the project. Plans are in place to seek sponsorship from mobile-Phone companies operating in Tanzania to have simple terms on internet charges to our clients surfing our website in exchange of us giving them space to advertise on our website. Companies such as Vodacom TZ, TIGO, Airtel, Halotel and Zantel will all be contacted for partnership. It is anticipated that these companies will be attracted to our website and TTG App as it will be having high traffic suitable for them to advertise. 

Non-mobile phone companies will be contacted for sponsorship by advertising on the TTG website. The high number online traffic to TTG platform will attract high profile companies to sponsor our project sustainably. 

Our application to Solve will help lifting the barriers of lack of funding needed operate the project to the fullest potential. For our project to run, we will need to have fund to cover some major costs needed to have the project up and running. These includes salary payments, rent, utility, marketing costs and other major recurring costs such insurance, office supplies costs, legal and insurances costs. 

The estimated budget for the project is relatively high compared to the current resources available. An additional funding from Solve Partners through prizes is required for our project run well according to plans in place.

The main aim for partnership is to seek for partners who can support our project financially, technologically and professionally lead our project to the fullest potential. The partners will support us to lift the barriers of lack of funding needed to operate the project successfully. For our project to run, we will need to have fund to cover some major costs needed to have the project up and running. These includes salary payments, rent, utility, marketing costs and other major recurring costs such insurance, office supplies costs, legal and insurances costs. 

The estimated budget for the project is relatively high compared to the current resources available. An additional funding from Solve Partners through prizes is required for our project run well according to plans in place.

The Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) project team welcomes all organizations, MIT Faculty or Initiatives or Solve Members to partner with us so we can reach our goals of supporting economically the marginalized groups of technicians in Tanzania. Any partner will to support our TTG platform innovation will be welcome. With our TTG project we expect to reach many technicians laying idle lacking market of their skills in a wider market in Tanzania. Our TTG innovation helps open the market for their technicians. Any partner interested to fund this project so as to improve the livelihood of these technicians in Tanzania is widely welcome.

The aim of partnership will be to get technical support in the area of IT and funding to sustain so it can perform to the fullest potential. Through funding obtained from potential partners, it will help us to get qualified staffs who can work in different areas in a more professional way to get the project running successfully. The partners will also help us to advance our technology in the market according to global experience they have so as our project to be able to be competitive in the market. The same global experience from our partners can help us on marketing strategies that have proven successful in many places in the world. Apart from financial support we seek from partners, we also expect to get vast experience from them in running projects successfully and sustainably.  

The refugees are characterized to be marginalized people being locked in camps in an area with limited movement. While this is true, it is also true that there are some refugees who were also technicians from their home land and they were earning money through their technical skills they have and only these skills stopped being into practice when they moved away and became refugees.

Our Tanzania Technician Galaxy (TTG) which is an online platform or directory of various technicians in Tanzania can help bring these refugees back into active implementation of their skills. Just like other technicians, they can also access the TTG platform and open their account, enter contact details, and upload photos and videos of their sample works they have been doing in their home countries so they can inform the public of their skills they have and they can also be hired to implement some jobs of their competency. If the rules will allow them to work outside the camp it will be even much better for them but if not allowing then the TTG can also serve the purpose of informing other refugees within the camp. Through TTG, refugee technicians will be known within and outside the camp and they will be able to earn more money and improve their economic status which will then help them to meet basic needs in the camp and when they return back to their home countries.

Women in Tanzania, just like in many other countries in Africa, are the most marginalized population and live to depend on their counter parts, men. Very few women go to school and get good jobs. With the recent increase of women in Tanzania who have gone into Technical Colleges, the Tanzania Technicians Galaxy (TTG) will help to promote them in Tanzanian market to get good jobs. In recent years, we have seen women trained to be car drivers, carpenters, color painters, tailors, car mechanics, restaurant waitresses, cooks and house cleaners, just to mention a few.

With the TTG, we will creatively have a separate page or slides on our website where we will be promoting good works done by women so as the public may see and get into contact with them for hiring. There are enormous number good jobs many women in Tanzania have trained in vocational colleges but their good work is not known to many people because they have nowhere to advertise their skills. The TTG will effectively do that by having them opening the account on the website, store contact details, post photos or videos of their good work just like other technicians. We will additionally create a page for promoting women works so they get more jobs. We can additionally link women hiring with added advantages that will be detailed later with our prospective sponsors for women hiring jobs. All these will improve the income of women and their economic status.   

The main core of Tanzania Technician Galaxy (TTG) actually to enable the working-age adults to build the skills and resources they need to access well-paying jobs in the market. There are more than 76% of technicians in Tanzania who do good works but they cannot get good paying jobs because they are not known to the public. This situation leads to their low income and inability to meet their basic needs. 

The many technicians such as Masons, plumbers, tailors, auto mechanic technicians, to mention a few, all do get jobs by referrals from people they have rendered the service or friends and relatives because they can’t afford advertising their good works in media. To a large extent this limits their chances of growing their promising projects and earning more money bearing in mind they can't afford advertising on media.

The Tanzania’s Technician Galaxy (TTG) will connect technicians with clients through a digital platform that will allow them to showcase their good work they do so they can impress their customers and lead them to enter into jobs agreements. On TTG, they will freely open an account, store contact details and post photos and videos of their past work so as impress new clients to give them jobs. With the TTG, many technicians will advertise their good work and products they offer. Clients will have a readily accessible platform to reach to many technicians and that will be making more money to the technicians through widened market.