In the congested streets of Egypt, it’s no news that daily transportation can be challenging for many, and even more challenging for those with motor disabilities. Acknowledging this, Bassem Thabet and Abdel Moneam Magdy, who has a mobile disability himself, got together to devise a way to overcome this challenge, and as a result Mobile Ramp was born. Their project, Mobile Ramp, has been shortlisted for this year’s 9th MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition. To gain more insight about what Mobile Ramp offers, BarakaBits asked one of Mobile Ramp’s co-founders, Bassem Thabet a few questions, and here’s how he responded:
- What is the story behind Mobile Ramp? “The story started when I realized the daily challenge that people with disabilities face whenever they are going out of their home to work or to visit any place. They can not move alone with their chairs because the streets do not have ramps. They are always in need of help getting their chairs to the pavements or sidewalk. When the UNDP initiated a gathering between technology solution architects and people with mobile disability to get to know each other and start thinking of a solution to solve the challenges, I got to know Abdel Moneam Magdy, co-founder and team member/ partner in Mobile Ramp project.”
- What makes Mobile Ramp special? “The core benefit received from the project is that it enables and helps people with mobile disability to put in a request for a ramp in a specific location by using a map-based mobile application that captures the end user’s GPS location and attaches it to the request. We then build the ramp in the requested location. The end user also can find the nearest location of a ramp close to their current location. The solution also includes map-based web pages for authorities to use to be able to find out the needs from the collected requests and be able to figure out the locations of the existing ramps.”
- Is this your first competition, or have you competed before? And how did you feel when Mobile Ramp was selected as a semi-finalist? “This is our first time to enter the competition for Mobile Ramp and also for MasterOfThings, the tool used to create Mobile Ramp server application. We were so excited and astonished to see that both projects were selected for the semi-finalist stage. We are very eager to win the competition.”
- Why did you apply for this competition, in particular? In other words, other than to win, what do you hope to gain from this competition? “The competition is not just about the financial reward. It is more about the publicity for your application and startup towards investors and customers. On top of that comes the networking with media companies and supporting organizations that can help the startup or project to succeed.”
The Mobile Ramp application is available on the Google Play store and it is worth mentioning that the tool that created the application, MasterOfThings, is also running in the ‘Startup Track’ of this year’s MIT Arab Competition!
If you are interested to learn more about Mobile Ramp, you can reach them at their Facebook page.
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