When Okiria Jobbers, a researcher at Kampala International University (KIU), stepped up to present his proposal to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), he came with a very specific problem in mind: how do you stop a fraudster who is withdrawing money in Kampala while simultaneously using an ATM in Mbarara?
His answer — an AI-powered system capable of learning what “normal” looks like on a financial network and instantly flagging anything that isn’t — has won him a UGX 9 million research grant from the UCC, making him one of the funded researchers under the Commission’s Research Support and Collaboration Framework 2022–2025.
“The system learns normal network behavior and instantly flags suspicious activities — abnormal agent banking withdrawals, simultaneous ATM usage in different cities — in real time.”
What the system actually does
The project, formally titled “AI-Based Real-Time Anomaly Detection in Large-Scale Data Streams,” is not just an academic exercise. Jobbers and his team are building an intelligent system that continuously monitors data streams — financial transactions, IoT network activity — and compares them against learned patterns of normal behaviour.
When it sees something that doesn’t fit — an unusual spike in agent banking withdrawals, a card being used in two cities at once, or an IoT device behaving out of character — it raises the alarm instantly. The system is designed to handle up to one million transactions in a single day, making it viable for deployment at scale across Uganda’s growing mobile money and digital banking infrastructure.
Why UCC is backing it
The UCC’s decision to fund the project reflects a broader national priority. Cyber threats against Uganda’s financial and telecommunications systems have been rising steadily, and regulators are increasingly looking to homegrown research for solutions that fit the local context.
By funding Jobbers’ work under the 2022–2025 Framework, UCC signals that it views this kind of applied AI research as essential infrastructure — not a luxury — for building public trust in digital financial services and protecting the country’s expanding IoT networks.
A win for university research
For the campus community, the award is a reminder of what student and faculty research can achieve when it is pointed at real problems. Jobbers’ work sits at the intersection of machine learning, cybersecurity, and financial technology — three of the most in-demand fields for young Ugandan professionals entering the job market today.
