Outcomes of the hackathon
Sharing the outcomes
In order to achieve more efficient and transparent humanitarian aid, PwC believes in the importance of sharing innovations in the field. With this reason we publish the prototypes that were developed during the Hackathon on the 11th and 12th of February on this page. Here you can find everything, from videos to applications, that pertain to the use and development of the prototypes created during the Hackathon. We encourage the use of these documents as a starting point so that they may be further improved into tools needed for global development. Do you already have an idea of what you want to do? These documents may also act as a guide to develop or improve your own ideas. After all, humanitarian aid is a joint effort!
Click below on the name of the participating teams to view the outcomes.
Noci
In order to understand the humanitarian needs of illiterate and hard to reach communities, this team has developed an application for modern tablets or smartphones. The application consists of a scalable questionnaire interface that uses icons to communicate the questions. The idea is that a tablet is given to a representative in the village, who can then collect the data from the villagers. The collected data can then be locally analyzed.
Ninja Trackers
NGO workers have little information about the location and the immediate needs within transit spots where people on the move stay. Furthermore, there is limited access to these spots and very few contact moments between the beneficiaries and aid actors. To make the communication easier, this group has developed a simple online system. This system enables the NGOs to share essential information about locations and the actual needs of people in transit spots. This information aides in making more coordinated and informed decisions.
Data Watchers
Information officers and decision makers in humanitarian organizations have vast, unstructured data available. This team has developed a tool that modifies unstructured data into visual insights that can be used by information officers. The information officer only needs an excel file with unstructured data (input from affected communities), and internet to use the online tool to which the officer has personal access. Different aspects of the visualisations are relevant to decision makers at different levels. This allows for useful actionable insights to the information officers and decision makers.
- View the pitch video
Kids United
For Child protection officers working in an emergency, a natural disaster, or a conflict situation, the reunification process of minors with their parents is an important occupation. This team has developed an algorithm that can help increase the efficiency of this process. Once an unaccompanied minor is identified, a child protection officer will conduct an interview through which the form is filled and submitted to the system. Once the form is submitted the algorithm will look for possible matches and will identify a potential match. The child protection officer can then go on to verify if it is a match and reunite the child and parents.
Seeing Hunger
More and more people are reaching out to the World Food Programs through social media platforms. This data is currently unstructured, but nevertheless, contains valuable information. The challenge is to filter out the data noise and verify the potential safety and food security concerns. The incoming data is structured and categorized using a chatbot built by the team. The chats go through a triage process, which categorizes the issues raised by the person of concern (PoC). The answers are valued on urgency and importance. When a case is very urgent the PoC is then redirected to an actual aid worker who can assess the situation based on the received information and decide the further course of action. If he communication exchange does not pass the threshold, the person will be referred to already established tools and mechanisms.
Invisible Hand
The population is currently facing acute food insecurity. Somali nomad pastoralists are using the growing reach of mobile phones to find out where they should take their cattle to get grazing and water. This team has built an application for extending the scope of mobile phone use. For people in inhibiting conditions there is a need to give accurate and relevant information on commodity prices. This application shares information with beneficiaries and collects their input on commodity prices and environmental conditions through SMS and telephone services.
iCan
Refugees outside of the camps are not connected. They are not allowed to work and are therefore dependent on humanitarian aid. As 80% of Syrian refugees have a mobile smartphone, this team concludes that a mobile application would be an appropriate tool. By creating an app that works as a platform for connecting the refugees, it allows them to exchange in skills and services. In addition, the information can also be valuable for humanitarian organizations for showing both needs but also potential skills. This solution gives refugees the opportunity to practice their skills and find new ways to meet their needs.
- View the pitch video
BotCast
Every day, thousands of people trust radio Dabanga in Sudan with their personal problems through chat media. The challenge is to process all shared information and act on these messages. This team has created a chatbot which immediately responds to messages sent to Radio Dabanga with follow-up questions in order to create a complete dataset. Subsequently this dataset is translated into a structured feed which allows the Dabanga editors to quickly prioritize and very the information. Once the information is verified, it van be shared with emergency organizations, who can respond and provide the necessary assistance. In addition, radio Dabanga can also quickly inform their listeners through broadcast.
Kiosk
Two way communication between humanitarian aid worker and affected population, are either facilitated through human interaction or via the help of a mobile phone. While the human interaction is the preferred option there are significant resource limitations to ensuring the adequate presence of personnel to facilitate a dialogue. The Kioska can be considered an user-friendly combination of devices to help the experience of displaced populations in refugee camps. These devices provided different services, both from public and private domain, that could benefit the efficiency of the organization of the camp while providing a more satisfactory user-experience.
- View the pitch video
[N]abler
Older people are disproportionally affected by humanitarian crises. As a solution, this team has developed a mobile app tailored to the specific needs of older people. This empowers older people to communicate directly about their needs and ensure their voices are heard by the local humanitarian community.
Work Exchange
Refugees live on average for 17 years in camps, where they must depend upon external aid. They are often not allowed to work and only provided enough disposable income to meet their basic needs. Nevertheless, so many refugees have skills they once used for jobs and careers they held before being displaced. The Work Exchange (WE) platform allows refugees to offer, provide, and seek services through a safe and secure platform that matches the demand for and supply of basic services among the refugees within the camp setting. The platform is targeting low-skill, informal services to ensure that people without obvious access to (informal) marketplaces are still supported in their value proposition. This niche avoids the legal implications of labor markets, which is often restricted in refugee settings. The WE is presented as a moneyless marketplace of skills, where people can either offer (WE offer), search (WE ask) or trade (WE match) skills and services.
- View the pitch video
Dreamcatcher
In conflict areas of Syria civilians have smartphones and access to some aid, but nonetheless there is a lot of corruption and fear of local public officials in addition to aid materials routinely getting stolen. If and when materials are delivered, they are not always matched to civilian needs. To make matters worse, there is no guarantee of electricity or connectivity for long periods of time. The Dreamcatcher team has created a concept that accounts for the low connectivity and low trust situation in the Syrian context. The app allows civilians to update their living conditions in a secure and private manner. These data packages propagate securely among the network of other users of the app without anyone else being able to intercept or read the messages. When any member of the network is able to get connectivity or interface with UN workers, their "wishes" are uploaded securely to UN servers, where they can be unencrypted and analyzed.
