Among the plethora of innovations showcased at the annual innovations event, was SkulBus, a web based application developed by Ian Aluda, a student from the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences, undertaking a Bachelors degree in Business Information System. Ian is currently in fourth year. 

The School Bus Project ( SkulBus), as its popularly known is a transport solution for high school students.  A technology platform where parents can book buses, track their childrens journey from home to school and from school to home and pay for their fares online. Some of the features of SkulBus are : school link feature which  helps neighboring schools with fewer students to join hands in getting buses full, especially if the students are going in the same direction or same location. This helps the schools enjoy economies of scale. 

The other feature of SkulBus is emergency wallet, in which parents can deposit some money and the students can withdraw the cash incase of emergency schools closure. There are many instances which necessitate abrupt school closure like strikes, floods, fire, among others events. In such cases, without cash in hand, the wallet comes in handy to assist students travel back home promptly.  

Real Time Tracking using Google APIs is probably, the most important feature of this website application that will be appreciated mostly by parents. This feature enables parents to track the bus movements from school to their respective homes. They can monitor how far the bus has moved and how near it is to their areas of residence. This feature helps parents track the students journey without any stress. 

As things stand right now, many schools organize for students transport via WhatsApp, where parents collect money as a group and paid to the bus companies. With this app, such inconveniences will be a thing of the past as the parents and students will be enjoying ease of booking.  

Ian Aluda, the techprenuer behind this innovation says that he was inspired by relatives and cousins who were struggling to bring back their children from school especially during abrupt school closures. His other concern are parents who are concerned of their children's safety.  

The wisemen say that in order to succeed, then you need to walk on the shoulders of the giants. Such is the case with Ian Aluda who has successfully been supported by tech giants like Innocent Magothe, CEO, Startinev, the company which specializes in funding innovations. Startinev, is one of the sponsors of Nairobi Innovation Week 2024, Hackathons. The other giant upon whose shoulders Ian walked is Banny Kiome, CEO, Jeota Media,  who has been very instrumental in helping him with marketing of the startup idea.