With nearly 6,000 dead, over 70,000 homes gone, and at least 2.8 million in need of assistance after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake last weekend in Nepal, relief organization are rushing to provide aid to those recovering from the quake.
One Chicago-area organization is set to take on the logistical challenge of delivering aid, virtually, from right here in the city.
Reliefwatch, a startup out of University of Chicago and the university's Social New Venture Challenge, is an inventory management system focused on developing countries. Using basic (i.e. non-smart phones) phones, relief workers receive a call asking questions such as “How many bottles of Ibuprofen do you have?” which they can respond by pressing the keypad. That data is stored in the cloud, and can be accessed by authorized users who can keep track of need.
“Reliefwatch is well suited for disaster scenarios, such as the Nepal earthquake, given the focus on using the devices people already have,” said CEO Daniel Yu in a Medium post. “Reliefwatch tracks inventory through the basic mobile phones, so Internet and smartphone access is not needed. In situations such as Nepal, where a lot of infrastructure has been destroyed, using basic technology is vital for the quick deployment of necessary supplies.”
Reliefwatch is partnering with global humanitarian organization Samaritan's Purse to distribute 60 tons of aid to an estimated 15,000 families.
“Because Reliefwatch doesn’t need any hardware, downloads, or software, it can be set up in minutes,” explains Yu. “We will be ready to go the moment the Samaritan’s Purse’s supplies reach Nepal and can begin tracking the distribution of supplies immediately.”
