Bridging the Digital Divide: Solutions by Sofonie Dala

 Leaving No One Behind in a Digital World

We intend to create a community cooperative with a sustainable activity model that empowers women living below the poverty line. We exist to support specifically those affected by digital exclusion; to listen and understand the local food system through their lens.

We have the opportunity to bring their voices, ideas and solutions to the forefront of this diverse and valuable programme  to enable lasting change for local and global food systems.

Solution 1

Al- based platform for voiceless individuals

Objectives:

working on speech and language during meals or buying food

- improving the speech and language skills of voiceless people

- they will learn how to ask for different foods that are for dinner/ launch/ snack. The same will be applied while shopping

How does it work?

We are bulding an Al-based platform that provides lip-reading communication for voiceless individuals.

To make our dream a reality, we wil need the help of volunteers to provide ''video selfies'' reading sentences voiceless individuals say during meal time (e.g., I want to eat vegetable; Can you give me something to eat?; I want to drink milk; or in a supermarket: How much does 1kg of apples cost?

Or even in the hospital (e.g., I need pain medicine. Will you call my nurse?). It's supper easy, quick, and people can do it from anywhere!

 List of expenses:

1. Internet for translation, investigation, data upload and download, website expenses, video and foto editing and use of social media platforms for communication

2. Bus/train/ taxi transport

3. Offline comunication: SMS messages, cell phone calls 

4. Other such as printing, copying, work uniform(customized t-shirts, cap or plastic) 

*Note: Moving to another region: in order to travel to another province they will require covid-19 test that is very expensive. 

Solution 2

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE - WITH AN ONLINE MEDICAL APP- PLATFORM (Blended based) THAT MAKES PERSONAL HEALTH EASIER

It will be an on-demand telehealth service that connects patients with doctors via their mobile app or website.

Users from any location can schedule online appointments or face to face consultations with a doctor for a variety of different services. It will also have healthcare video records and aricles to provide information about different conditions and medications, and a care directory.

About the project

Consultations and traditional treatment: Cultivation of medicinal and edible (nutritional) plants.

These plants can provide healthy alternatives to highly processed foods and pharmaceuticals, bringing great health into our lives.

Edible and medicinal plants: Moringa oleifera, plant chaya spinach tree, baobab leaf, beetroof, cabbage, spinach, wild cabbage plant (brassica oleracea) and others

for:

Epatic problems, cancer, diabetes, sickle cell, elephantiasis, tuberculosis, high depression, malaria, kidneys, long and painful menstruation, sexual and reproductive health for girls and others.

Although there are already places where these plants can be found, we will also need to buy a land where we can cultivate the plants for this particular project.

 List of expenses:

1. Internet for translation, investigation, data upload and download, website expenses, video and foto editing and use of social media platforms for communication

2. Bus/train/ taxi transport

3. Offline comunication: SMS messages, cell phone calls 

4. Other such as printing, copying, work uniform(customized t-shirts, cap or plastic) 

 

*Note: Moving to another region: in order to travel to another province they will require covid-19 test that is very expensive  (for this project this point will be necessary). 

Solution 3

Educational attainment, digital literacy and employement among rural communities

Implementation of online-blended platform for vulnerable and illiterate women and girls including farmers and disabled children in rural and urban areas.

We will give people the opportunity to improve all areas of their lives, including access to information, knowledge management, networking, social services, industrial production and mode of work.

This project is for those marginalized group who lack access to digital technologies and knowledge, skills and competencies required to navigate them.

Some trainings will be on digital and financial literacy, social media, cooking programs, nutrition, healthy food agricultural programs. Moreover, the app will be equiped with basic literacy, numeracy and other skills that expands the capabilities and opportunities of the poor. So they can participate fully in the hyperconnected, digitized society.

Our dream is to build a big school-center in a rural area allowing the access to up-to-date curriculum education programmes and trusted e-learning resources, among many other benefits such as video and social media.

The center will be equipped with ICT tools and internet. In the near future a store with affordable prices containing ICT tools and 5G technology will be built, so that poor people can access and buy technology.

 List of expenses:

1. Internet for translation, investigation, data upload and download, website expenses, video and foto editing and use of social media platforms for communication

2. Bus/train/ taxi transport

3. Offline comunication: SMS messages, cell phone calls 

4. Other such as printing, copying, work uniform(customized t-shirts, cap or plastic) 

*Note: Moving to another region: in order to travel to another province they will require covid-19 test that is very expensive. 

Solution 4

Food Distribution Programme for the Most Deprived Persons in rural and urban areas. 

(e.g., school children from poor families, street children and homeless people, vulnerable older people, double orphan children and vulnerable single mothers). 

We will also develop and promote an online-offline app to alleviate the problem of the poor. The app will connect farmers to consumers, retailers to charities and growers to intermediaries.

There's no doubt that this project will reduce hunger and eliminate waste.

Basically the app will target anyone who wants to donate or receive food. 

*Covid-19 biosecurity materials such as soap, hand sanitisers and face masks will also be distributed. 

 List of expenses:

1. Internet for translation, investigation, data upload and download, website expenses, video and foto editing and use of social media platforms for communication

2. Bus/train/ taxi transport

3. Offline comunication: SMS messages, cell phone calls 

4. Other such as printing, copying, work uniform(customized t-shirts, cap or plastic) 

*Note: Moving to another region: in order to travel to another province they will require covid-19 test that is very expensive. 

Solution 5

Social inclusion for older people 

Social exclusion can result in depression and, increasingly, withdrawn behaviour in people who feel excluded.

Therefore, this project aims to create a social inclusion policy to incorporate core issues in ageing such as civil engagement, an ageing workforce, age-friendly communities, and Civic involvement. 

2. Creation of digital inclusion Centre 

There  project is being developed for more older people to be enabled to access the internet and technology that will benefit them in their later life.

3. Reinforce family farming for the lifetime benefit of the elderly and orphaned children.

The project will contribute to the sustainable and inclusive transformation of family farming, with the aim of increasing incomes, improving food and nutrition security, contributing to the diversification of the economy and job creation in rural areas.

  List of expenses:

1. Internet for translation, investigation, data upload and download, website expenses, video and photo editing and use of social media platforms for communication

2. Bus / train / taxi transport

3. Offline comunication: SMS messages, cell phone calls
4. Other such as printing, copying, work uniform (customized t-shirts, cap or plastic).

* Note: Moving to another region: in order to travel to another province they will require covid-19 test that is very expensive.

Solution 6

Creation of community garden

It is about planting seeds, watching them grow, and enjoying the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers produced in the process.

We will also have an online platform where will be posted our recorded videos, pictures and so on. 

 List of expenses:

1. Internet for translation, investigation, data upload and download, website expenses, video and foto editing and use of social media platforms for communication

2. Bus/train/ taxi transport

3. Offline comunication: SMS messages, cell phone calls 

4. Other such as printing, copying, work uniform(customized t-shirts, cap or plastic) 

*Note: Moving to another region: in order to travel to another province they will require covid-19 test that is very expensive. 

We care about you!

In order to ensure the accessibility for the most vulnerable people our apps will be available for all tipes of samart devices and can be accessed via a website for users who feel more comfortable on a desktop or laptop.

Our apps will offer multiple ways to connect with experts, teachers, doctors and healthcare providers.

It will allow users to communicate in a variety of ways, including video and phone chats, secure messaging, calls, live chat, and more.

We also will be collecting video interviews about food and agriculture for our entertainment programmes.

*Poor peasants and farmers can receive smartphones in exchange for food.

For example instead of money they can pay with their agricultural products. 

We must address digital inequalities, if we are to ‘leave no-one behind’.

It is now more important than ever to understand how experiences of poverty are changing as digital technologies are increasingly used not just for communication but for many activities relevant to development and wellbeing.

Digital technologies are used to increase income and employment opportunities, improve civic participation and governance, enhance the provision of healthcare and education, and include more women, people living with disabilities, and rural populations in development processes.

*However, few open data initiatives are actively promoting inclusion of poor and disadvantaged groups who are less likely to be consulted in the design of data policies or to have their experiences reflected in official stats.

Even digital-based products that specifically target poor people leave some citizens behind. The need to have a mobile phone, pay a deposit, and top-up credit means that the poorest are locked out of ‘pro-poor’ innovations.

There is a need to build more rural telecentres designed to extend the internet to deprived areas.

Leaving no one behind requires the political will to prioritize the longer-term challenge of building the capacity of those who are not currently connected.

If it did become politically possible to work with those at most risk of being left behind, then our paper provides evidence that meeting the needs of these groups requires a blended approach that uses non-digital as well as digital approaches. Such blended, multi-channel, and multi-dimensional programs offer the best prospect of enabling currently marginalized groups to amplify their capacity and intent and to secure digital dividends.