The portfolio contains a selection of tried and tested technology solutions which have been found useful for development NGOs.
Technology solutions
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Arifu
Chatbot for interactive learning. Free of charge to the users. Arifu’s chatbot allows both smart and feature phone users to learn via SMS, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Provides information on multiple topics, for instance, on farming and preventing COVID-19. Main use: Access to information via chatbot.
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Be My Eyes
Be My Eyes is an innovative solution where sighted volunteers lend their eyes to solve tasks big and small to help blind and low-vision people lead more independent lives. It consists of a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and representatives for visual assistance through a live video call. When a user requires visual assistance, they start a video call in the app which connects to a sighted volunteer who also has the app installed on their phone. The sighted volunteer can then describe what they are seeing in the video feed and assist the user. The award-winning app is available in over 180 languages
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Braille Me
Braille Me has been described as the world’s most affordable refreshable Braille display. Visually impaired people can use it for e.g. browsing the internet, accessing their computer files and reading books or notes. It connects to mobile phones and computers and has a portable design with a lasting battery. It is produced by Innovision that operates from India.
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BRCK – Kio Kit
Fully integrated education platform designed in Africa that “turns any school room into a digital classroom”. Contains 40 easy-to-use Kio tablets, wireless charging and lockable case. The tablets can run multimedia content and have sustainable batteries to manage only irregular charging. Main use: Tablets for educational purposes.
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Eneza Education
Mobile education platform that works via SMS and web. Users can study with curated content (ages 9 to 18) take quizzes and ask questions from teachers – among other things. Available in Kenya but also in Ghana and Ivory Coast. Main use: Education content.
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Free Basics (Meta Connectivity)
Free Basics by Meta provides free access to specific web services on mobile phones in markets where internet access may be less affordable. The websites are available for free without data charges and include content on things like news, employment, health, education and local information. Developers, NGOs, and governments have joined the Free Basics platform to offer information and services without data charges.
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Hadithi! Hadithi!
Literacy app to boost 6- and 7-year old’s reading both in Kiswahili and English, aligned with the curriculum. The app incudes dozens of stories written by Kenyan teachers and illustrated by East African artists. They also have a literacy app built for Somali adults who have missed out on school. Has the capacity to build apps in new languages. Main use: Boost literacy skills.
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Khan Academy
Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. Khan Academy tackles math, science, computing, history, art history, economics and more.
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Koulu.me
Provides information about +30 free apps and resources to support distance learning in schools that are affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Main use: Wide range of education apps for teachers to utilize.
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Lytefire solar oven
Solar thermal oven that can be produced and maintained in many areas using locally available materials. Uses direct solar energy (no electricity). Main use: bake dehydrate and roast food. Temperature up to 300°C. Available in combination with technical, baking and entrepreneurship training.’
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mHero
mHero is a way for health officials to stay in touch with health workers near and far. It is a two-way, mobile phone-based communication system that uses basic text messaging or SMS.
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NVDA Screen Reader
NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) is a free screen reader for the Windows operating system (Version 7 onwards). NVDA allows blind and vision impaired persons to access and interact with the Windows operating system and many third party applications.
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OpenLMIS
OpenLMIS is a cloud-based electronic logistics management information system (LMIS). It is built to support national supply chains to manage medical supplies and to avoid stockouts. Main use: manage health commodity supply chains.
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OpenStreetMap
OpenStreetMap is a map of the world. It is created by people all around the world and it is under an open license. Data is available for every country in the world. The platform emphasizes local knowledge.
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Oppia
Oppia provides a novel and engaging approach to online learning that is specially designed to meet the unique needs of under-resourced learners around the world. It is built by educators, tutors, and learners from around the globe.
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Rachel-Plus
A portable device with hard-drive and wifi-connection. Contains wide variety of open source and free educational material in several languages. Useful in remote locations that do not have access to the internet. Use: Provide access to educational materials in remote locations.
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RapidPro
RapidPro is an open-source platform that allows anyone to build interactive messaging systems using an easy visual interface. It was created in collaboration between UNICEF and Nyaruka, a Rwandan software firm.
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Scratch
Scratch is the world’s largest coding community for children and a coding language with a simple visual interface that allows young people to create digital stories, games, and animations. Scratch is designed, developed, and moderated by the Scratch Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Scratch is free and available in more than 70 languages.
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Shule Direct
Local, accessible and digitized learning content for individual students and teachers as well as schools in the Secondary School level in Tanzania. Provides web platform (online & offline), mobile applications and offline SMS services. Main use: Learning content for students, teachers and schools.
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Solar Media Backpack
Portable media station for settings with limited access to electricity and internet. Contains a durable projector, loudspeakers and 6–8-hour battery. Operates with solar panels as well as grid electricity. Main use: Present information (videos, photos, presentations etc.) to groups.
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TensorFlow
TensorFlow is an end-to-end open source platform for machine learning. It has an ecosystem of tools, libraries, and community resources that lets researchers push the state-of-the-art in machine learning and developers easily build and deploy machine learning-powered applications.
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Textit
Message and voice service platform. You can set up your own platform to communicate people using automated SMS or voice messages. Internet connection is not required for the users. Main use: Share information and interact with large number of people owning a basic mobile phone.
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