Where are they now?
Here's an update with links to follow the progress of a few projects from Hack the Crisis and Openhack GBG2020.
west coast hack for impact
Coding for humanity
An app to address domestic violence, globally.BrightAct
An app to address domestic violence, globally.
Where does your project currently stand?
BrightAct creates thoughtful technology to address domestic violence, globally. We seek financial support and expertise from brave organizations and warmhearted individuals from the civil sector to help us become better. The two female founders, Sofie Wahlström and Elinor Samuelsson, have worked pro-bono since April 2020, to address one of the most urgent issues in a crisis and beyond: gender equality and safe homes for families. We believe in building inclusive tech, from user-driven innovation, rooted in the Sustainable Development Goals to make an impact in the world. Up until now, we have done thorough market research with leading experts spanning 12 countries, mapped the needs of help seekers and other stakeholders, set up a modular and scalable tech architecture, prototyped our first app for victims, and established key collaboration networks for launch. We are close to having a finished Minimal Viable Product, and we need your financial support and expertise to fine tune and launch our first app in Sweden estimated for Q1, 2021. Support us and become a changemaker to save lives!
How did your project change since its inception at HTC?
We have since HTC remained true to our vision to create innovation for society through collaboration and by bridging the gap between stakeholders across borders. Where we imagine BrightAct as a platform supplier for the public sector and NGOs with apps for inhabitants, that gather and streamline support to address domestic violence, globally. Since HTC, we have reprioritized the order in which we launch the functionality of the first app. At HTC we built the foundation for a safe and secure way for victims to report incidents and store evidence for a police report. We have since verified which type of evidence will hold up in court with experienced lawyers, and are in discussions with leading data security experts on EU level to build a safe end-to-end encrypted solution, in accordance to GDPR regulations. Keeping victims safe is our highest priority, and as such we decided to launch another important feature, the support chat, as our Minimum Viable Product. Here, we guide helpseekers to chat with verified help organizations who can access the chat free of charge. This enables smaller or established help organizations to work with digital tools to reach new target groups, like Generation Z and Y, who prefer to communicate over digital tools.
What kind of support have you received since HTC?
BrightAct has won multiple awards and hackathons since HTC, which has accelerated our momentum by providing access to mentorship, business coaching and networking with some of the best organizations in the world. We recognize that we do not know it all, and we desire to learn from leading organizations and experts to build technology that can make a real impact.
What are your future plans for the project?
BrightAct aims to create a journey to safety for victims, children and perpetrators living in unsafe homes with domestic violence. We are laying the foundation for the apps with all available support gathered and streamlined in one place, wherever the helpseeker is in the world. Our business model is innovative with free of charge apps for inhabitants, and with a platform for the public sector and NGOs on a low-cost freemium model. BrightAct is a benefit corporation who commits to reinvest profits to innovate for society. We believe that by addressing domestic violence holistically from all angles, and by using the power of technology, we can gain new insights for preventative work, for collaboration across organizations and nations, and to follow up the effectiveness of resources. For the next immediate future, we seek to test and launch BrightAct app for victims of domestic violence in one larger municipality like Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmö. We aim to partner with large and innovative corporations for mentorship and CSR funding. We aim to partner with help organizations to launch our coming apps for children and perpetrators, and to continue our work with scientific researchers in Sweden and abroad. We seek mentors to help us navigate fast growth and expansion globally, without compromising the security, safety and trust from our helpseekers.
What kind of advice would you give to people looking to get their projects off the ground?
We joke that BrightAct is fueled by late nights, coffee and sandwiches. Because let's be real, starting an ambitious project that aims to innovate from multiple angles requires hard work and a trust in yourself to get things done. Our best advice is to dream big by aiming for global and starting with local, rely on yourself, find people who align with your values and vision, be committed, and honest about where your boundaries are. Take a break when needed, and have fun. We have a lot of fun. And most importantly, create networks with experts around you who are smarter and more knowledgeable in the areas where you need help. You can do it!
A film to bring awareness about violence in personal relationships Borta Bra Hemma Värst
A film to bring awareness about violence in personal relationships
Where does your project currently stand?
In our project we created a short film about domestic violence in order to make more people conscious about the problem. We did some research to find people and voices that could contribute with their experiences in the film, created a manuscript, found a film maker and a great location. The film and the homepage were released in July and
after that we worked with spreading the word about the film and sharing it on different social media, contacting journalists. We were published in Göteborg direkt and a German newspaper and different companies use the film in their lectures or workshops. We are now at a point where approximately 18000 people have seen the film and we really want to make more people aware of the topic so that we all can help together.
How did your project change since its inception at HTC?
Our project has evolved a lot since our pitch. Of course you always dream big, but we hadn’t imagined that everything would turn out that good! We were very lucky that we found so many people who wanted to say something in our film, that we got to use Partille Arena for the recording of the film and that Jakob Rockmyr volunteered to make our movie! So we can really say that the outcome of the project was above our expectations, even though we dreamed big!
What kind of support have you received since HTC?
We got support from a lot of different people! Persons who wanted to contribute to the movie which are a lot of people: Beatrice Silow who moderated the film, Christell Andersson and Frida who tell us their stories, Maria Bauer who is an expert for violence prevention, the persons who work at Partille Arena, the film maker Jakob Rockmyr and
many more. Then the team from Förebildarna who coached us and helped us with marketing, Jan Burenius and Linnea Lindau who have helped us since the beginning with motivation, contacts and spreading the word and many, many more! Without the support of so many people, this wouldn´t have been possible.
What are your future plans for the project?
Our plans for the future are to get more people to see the movie. We think it is such an important topic and the more people are aware of it and how they can help, the more people can be saved from domestic violence.
What kind of advice would you give to people looking to get their projects off the ground?
The most important thing is that the team has a topic that they are passionate about. Then it is good to make a plan: What is our goal? How much time do we have? What is our budget? What help do we need? Create a platform where you as a team can plan and collect documents, e.g. Google drive. It‘s important to work well-structured and organized, so that nothing gets lost. We would also like to point out that it wouldn’t have been possible to realize our idea if we hadn’t asked and gotten any help. So ask, ask and ask for help! And have fun along the way!
Empower everyone, everywhere to be able to know their well-beingVoiceMed
Empower everyone, everywhere to be able to know their well-being
Where does your project currently stand?
VoiceMed provides businesses with the capacity to fast screen employees before they enter the work space. Employees will use VoiceMed software through their phones from home before going to work and get instant results: Green (they can go to work as they do not show signs of COVID19), Orange (they have to retake the test) or red (they need to contact the doctor or do a PCR). The HR/ employer will have a dashboard to monitor the COVID19 spread within a unique view and take actions on time.
The software is offered with an API for being used by any existing app, or we can provide a different front -end upon client request (such as screening with phone call). Our technology is based on deep learning classification and currently it can identify a person with COVID-19 based on their sound samples in cough, breath and speech. It can upscale the COVID-19 screening everywhere and help rationalize conventional tests with a daily, cost-efficient, available use. We combine artificial intelligence and sound analysis to deliver highly-scalable products which can screen billions of people in a matter of days.
Our product for screening COVID-19 is now ready and getting certified and for starting a PoC. Our dataset and data strategy will allow us to scale very fast to different other diseases detection, and in 2023 we will launch our respiratory diseases tracker, including other acute diseases with the big opportunity in training the model for early detection of lung cancer.
Our goal is to start targeting companies to help going back to work, focusing on the ones who were more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and while offering the service gather additional data for improving our database on other respiratory diseases with a gamification technique. Afterward we want to target health insurance and telemedicine companies in this next stage, and integrate seamlessly to their videoconferencing systems for commercialization and simultaneously data acquisition. We aim to simplify healthcare access by providing rapid and accurate disease screening anytime and anywhere: today COVID-19, tomorrow other respiratory diseases and beyond.
How did your project change since its inception at HTC?
We improved our biobank from 100 sound samples to 18000 sound samples. We collaborate with more then 10 hospitals, some of which are centre of excellence.
What kind of support have you received since HTC?
We got introduced to some stakeholders of Swedish ecosystem and we did some mentoring sessions.
What are your future plans for the project?
We want to bring the product to market by March 2021, therefore we are doing our clinical trial to validate our medical device software and get CE mark.
What kind of advice would you give to people looking to get their projects off the ground?
Passion will drive you though this long but exiting path!
For Freedom of MovementCoronaFree
For Freedom of Movement
Where does your project currently stand?
Our project "Coronafree" has successfully gone from a concept and an idea to a market-ready product. We are now in a position where we are ready for a wide rollout to the market, having undergone all necessary development, integrations, and landed strong strategic partnerships that have given us the prerequisites to scale, reach more customers, and be competitive in the market space
How did your project change since its inception at HTC?
Although the general concept and idea have stayed the same, as with any new product, the tricky part is to find the right product-market fit. In the months following HTC, we have iterated on our product and some of its core features to better fit the customer segment we're targeting. We have also been lucky to find strong partnerships early on, such as IBM and Eurofins, which drastically changed the scope of the project from what we originally imagined.
What kind of support have you received since HTC?
The team from HTC has both directly and indirectly given us a helpful boost in our journey. We have received help with everything from contacts to endorsements and useful tips. But most importantly, it gave us exposure, resulting in media coverage both nationally and internationally, which gave us the leverage needed to land important partnerships
What are your future plans for the project?
We plan to continue growing as a company, expanding to more countries, and iterate on the product and see how far we can take it.
What kind of advice would you give to people looking to get their projects off the ground?
Our advice would be to firstly surround yourself with like-minded people who share your vision and passion for whatever it is you're trying to create. Secondly, get to market as soon as possible and be agile. If you're not mortally embarrassed about the first version of your product, you've launched too late. Be ready to adapt and iterate fast, your first perception of what your product will be is probably wrong. Finally, truly utilize your network. We learned quickly how powerful a good network is and the doors it can open up if used correctly.
Free help for students with the help of volunteersDOTHEMATH
Free help for students with the help of volunteers
Follow our progress
"DOTHEMATH started already in March 2020 and took the opportunity to participate in both Hack the Crisis and Globalhack to refine their solution. DOTHEMATH has been operational ever since and just celebrated their one year anniversary. During the last 12 months, voluntary helpers from DOTHEMATH have helped thousands of pupils studying from home.
If we were about to give any advice to anyone wanting to get started with a new project, we would say: Just go for it! You'll learn as you go.
You can best support us by spreading the word to schools, students and volunteers."
Openhack GBG2020 Project
Managing the Human Elephant Wildlife ConflictThe Zones Project
Managing the Human Elephant Wildlife Conflict
Our global team is facing a global challenge, when the interaction between humans and wildlife result in negative impacts including crop destruction or even death.
Peace Parks Foundation, a nonprofit organization working in conservation areas across ten countries in Africa, presented a challenge on the Human Elephant Wildlife Conflict during Openhack Gothenburg 2020. The Human Elephant Wildlife Conflict often occurs for people living in poor, rural and vulnerable areas such as Limpopo National Park in Mozambique. Their reality is crop destruction or even death. They experience the effects of climate change first-hand and compete with local wildlife for natural resources. It’s a harsh landscape with regular droughts and few opportunities. These people survive through subsistence farming and when their crops are destroyed by animals, a year’s worth of food is lost leaving them in a dire situation. There are no shops to buy produce and even if there were, they would rarely have the means to buy additional food. These farmers also have cattle that competes for scarce water resources and rangelands with local wildlife. African elephants are listed as a vulnerable species. Back in the 1930s it is estimated that there were over 10 million elephants roaming across the African continent. Today, due to poaching, conflict and human encroachment, their numbers have effectively been decimated, leaving approximately 415,000 elephants left in the wild. It is said that no fence can keep out a roaming bull elephant. These bulls as well as large family herds often move through the villages in and around Limpopo National Park, destroying infrastructure, crops and in extreme circumstances, killing community members. Unfortunately, in retaliation, these incidents often result in villagers taking matters into their own hands and killing these elephants. This challenge is not unique for the African landscape, it is unfortunately well known by people living in other continents as well.
Where does your project currently stand? Our global team - including team members in Sri Lanka, USA, South Africa, Mozambique and Sweden - is focused on developing new or expanding on existing technology that is affordable, accessible and will aid community members with the early detection or deterring of Human Elephant Wildlife Conflict incidents with African elephants. The two main problems addressed are a) how to keep the elephants in wild and b) how to better escalate, communicate and alert to the communities in the event of elephants moving within proximity of their crops and villages. During Openhack the team developed a concept comprising of a sensor platform of sensors, cameras and close connectivity, in combination with an action platform with different software and hardware devices. We are looking for partners and sponsors that can help to enable the team to develop the product and implement a pilot project in South Africa.
What are your future plans for the project? If the pilot runs successfully, it can be scaled to several other areas around the globe where human elephant wildlife conflicts exist, for example in Africa, India and Sri Lanka.
Join us to solve a global problem in line with Agenda 2030 - and help people living in vulnerable areas with food security and safety and protect the elephant and conserve ecosystems.
