Ibuye

Ibuye is a bilingual AI navigator for Irembo. It uses Gemini to turn complex government requirements into simple, voice-activated guidance in Kinyarwanda and English for all citizens.

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Inspiration

In Rwanda, the Irembo portal is the "Gateway" to all essential government services. However, many citizens find themselves standing at this gateway without the keys to get through due to complex jargon and multi-step requirements. We were inspired to build Ibuye (meaning "Stone" or "Foundation") to serve as a solid, reliable AI layer that sits beneath the portal—transforming the vast knowledge within Irembo into simple, conversational guidance.

What it does

Ibuye is a bilingual "Smart Navigator" that simplifies the Irembo experience. It greets users in their preferred language (Kinyarwanda or English), provides context-aware welcomes based on the time of day in Kigali, and offers a structured Knowledge Base. Users can ask natural language questions about services like ID renewals or land titles, and Ibuye provides instant clarity on prerequisites, costs, and the exact "next steps" required on the official portal.

How we built it

We developed Ibuye using Gemini 1.5 Pro and Google AI Studio.Frontend: A responsive React application styled with Tailwind CSS, utilizing a color palette inspired by the Rwandan flag.Agentic Logic: We implemented system instructions to enforce a bilingual persona and used JSON-mode for structured data exchange.Dynamic Features: We integrated the Web Speech API for audible greetings and used JavaScript to calculate the current time $t$ in Kigali to trigger time-specific welcomes:$05:00 \le t < 12:00 \implies$ Mwaramutse$12:00 \le t < 18:00 \implies$ MwiriweAudio Experience: Added a "Start Experience" overlay to comply with browser autoplay policies while maintaining an immersive feel with low-volume background percussion.

Challenges we ran into

One major hurdle was Linguistic Mapping. Standard Text-to-Speech engines often struggle with Kinyarwanda phonetics. We had to implement "phonetic prompting" within Gemini's response schema to ensure the AI's spoken greeting sounded natural and welcoming. Additionally, balancing the background music volume (set to $10\%$) with the AI's voice synthesis required careful state management to ensure clarity during the user's interaction.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are incredibly proud of the Bilingual Knowledge Base. Seeing the AI seamlessly switch between English and Kinyarwanda while maintaining the accuracy of government procedures is a huge milestone. We also successfully created an "Agentic" feel where the bot isn't just reacting, but proactively welcoming the user based on their real-world context (time and location).

What we learned

We learned that Grounding is the key to trust. By strictly constraining Gemini to official Irembo data, we eliminated hallucinations regarding service fees and requirements. We also discovered how much "localizing" an AI—through a simple flag icon or a cultural greeting—improves the user experience for citizens who might otherwise feel intimidated by technology.

What's next for Ibuye

The next step for Ibuye is Vision Integration. We want users to be able to upload photos of their existing physical documents (like a provisional driving license) so that Gemini can analyze them and automatically prepare the next step of the application process on Irembo, further reducing the friction for Rwandan citizens.

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