We capture the stories of failure, learning and impact across the world, from those closest to the work. Listen to the voices of those testing ideas on the ground, the communities they’re working with locally and the humans with most to gain from each potential solution.
Across Nepal, data on the nature and condition of WASH assets is collected and uploaded onto the government’s NWASH portal. It is often inaccurate, hindering the government's ability to make good decisions on resource allocation and compromising people’s access to water.
In this video, learn how the FT Hub has been testing the use of an AI image recognition algorithm to analyse the nearly 1-million photos in the NWASH database to identify assets accurately and to identify faults with those assets.
Read more about this pilot on their pilot profile: https://www.frontiertechhub.org/pilot-portfolio/ruralwaterschemes-nepal
This pilot set out to understand whether detailed verification of reforestation activity could reduce funder hesitancy and encourage investment in reforestation initiatives.
To test this, the team sought to develop a stack of technology that would combine ground truthing (through the act of attaching and registering a geotag to each individual sapling through the use of a mobile app) and remote sensing (through regular drone photography and GIS mapping) data onto an accessible open source data platform that would enable a viewer to understand how their investment has been utilised.
Central to this methodology was the importance of designing a community-integrated model that encouraged local community members to become custodians of the planting process and planting site.
This pilot is carried out in partnership with UAVaid, Crown Agents in Sierra Leone and Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
To learn more, visit the pilot page: https://www.frontiertechhub.org/pilot...
Dive into this interview to explore the intersection of blockchain technology and the international development and humanitarian sectors.
In Casamance, Senegal, there are rural communities living on inland islands who are dependent on boats for fishing and transport. Unfortunately, the cost of fuel is extremely high, with fuel costs representing 25% of fisherman’s daily income. Petrol is unsafe and hard to access, as it is stored in glass bottles at informal depots at various riverside locations. Additionally, the petrol-engine boats pollute an already fragile environment and disrupt wildlife with the engine’s loud noise.
This pilot will explore whether electric motors can provide an alternative to water transport for piroguiers that is cheaper, greener and safer than the current combustion engines. Silent motors will enhance wildlife conservation and increase appeal for eco-tourism, boosting local tourism economies. Additionally, electric motors need less maintenance and are more cost effective over the lifetime.
We live in a world where more people in Africa have access to mobile phones than have access to clean drinking water. Water infrastructure across Africa can be fragmented and unreliable. 10 years ago it was estimated that one in three hand pumps in rural areas were broken globally, and one reason for this is a lack of maintenance and repair.
In 2016 the Frontier Tech Hub worked with eWATER Services to pilot the use of IoT sensors within solar-powered water systems in rural Tanzania. Through monitoring patterns in water flow and volume, engineers were able to identify issues and breakages in the WASH system and respond. Water tap access increased from 66% to 99%, and in one village, the average time spent collecting water per household was reduced from three hours a day to just 10 minutes, with children able to attend school as a result.
This short film tells the story of the humans in Singida and Endanachan whose lives have been drastically improved by 24/7 access to safe water.
Many thanks to the contributors to this film, including our friends at eWater Services and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
We live in a world where more people in Africa have access to mobile phones than have access to clean drinking water. Water infrastructure across Africa can be fragmented and unreliable. 10 years ago it was estimated that one in three hand pumps in rural areas were broken globally, and one reason for this is a lack of maintenance and repair.
In 2016 the Frontier Tech Hub worked with eWATER Services to pilot the use of IoT sensors within solar-powered water systems in rural Tanzania. Through monitoring patterns in water flow and volume, engineers were able to identify issues and breakages in the WASH system and respond. Water tap access increased from 66% to 99%, and in one village, the average time spent collecting water per household was reduced from three hours a day to just 10 minutes, with children able to attend school as a result.
This short film tells the story of the humans in Singida and Endanachan whose lives have been drastically improved by 24/7 access to safe water.
Many thanks to the contributors to this film, including our friends at eWater Services and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
Every year in Nepal, the Rajapur Municipality is impacted by floods. There is data available to help plan against these shocks, but it is not currently utilised on a local level.
This short film tells the story of the humans in Rajapur and Katmandu working to engage local communities to prepare against the impacts of climate shocks, using data pulled from geospatial data from satellites and data from sensors on the ground.
Find the data in real time here: https://www.dhm.gov.np/
Every year in Nepal, the Rajapur Municipality is impacted by floods. There is data available to help plan against these shocks, but it is not currently utilised on a local level.
Bees play a crucial role in global food production, but the beekeeping industry in South Africa faces significant challenges like declining beekeeper numbers and suboptimal pollination.
This Frontier Tech Hub pilot aims to answer the question: Can IoT sensor technologies improve beekeeping productivity?
To learn more, visit the pilot page.
An interview with Tim Hemmings, the Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Colombia.
At the Frontier Tech Hub, we believe that playfulness, brainstorming, and testing are important ingredients for innovation. With that in mind, the goal of our Ideas Generation Workshop wasn’t for FCDO staff to create refined or excellent ideas that could actually be applications to our programme. It wasn’t even to come up with technically possible or viable ideas. Instead, would-be pioneers had the opportunity to experiment, ideate, and play in the hope that we might spark an idea with potential merit, that we could then support them to develop further.
