Simple, effective tech to connect communities in crisis
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0:01 - 0:04I'm an immigrant from Venezuela,
-
0:04 - 0:07and I've lived in the US for six years.
-
0:08 - 0:11If you ask me about my life
as an expatriate, -
0:11 - 0:13I would say that I've been lucky.
-
0:13 - 0:14But it hasn't been easy.
-
0:15 - 0:18Growing up, I never thought
that I was going to leave my homeland. -
0:18 - 0:23I participated in my first
student protest in 2007, -
0:23 - 0:27when the president shut down
one of the most important news networks. -
0:27 - 0:30I was getting my bachelor's degree
in communications, -
0:30 - 0:35and that was the first time I realized
I couldn't take free speech for granted. -
0:36 - 0:39We knew things were getting bad,
but we never saw what was coming: -
0:39 - 0:43an economic crisis,
infrastructure breaking down, -
0:43 - 0:45citywide electrical blackouts,
-
0:45 - 0:49the decline of public health care
and shortage of medicines, -
0:49 - 0:52disease outbreaks and starvation.
-
0:52 - 0:56I moved to Canada with my husband in 2013,
-
0:56 - 1:00and we always thought we'd move back home
when the crisis improved. -
1:00 - 1:01But we never did.
-
1:01 - 1:04Nearly all my childhood friends
have left the country, -
1:04 - 1:06but my parents are still there.
-
1:07 - 1:09There have been moments
where I've called my mom, -
1:09 - 1:13and I could hear people screaming
and crying in the background -
1:14 - 1:17as teargas bombs exploded in the streets.
-
1:17 - 1:21And my mom, as if I couldn't
hear it, would always tell me, -
1:21 - 1:24(Speaking Spanish)
-
1:24 - 1:26"We're fine, don't worry."
-
1:26 - 1:27But of course, I worry.
-
1:27 - 1:30It's my parents, and I'm 4,000 miles away.
-
1:31 - 1:35Today, I'm just one of more than
four million Venezuelans -
1:35 - 1:36who have left their home country.
-
1:38 - 1:40A lot of my friends
are Venezuelan immigrants, -
1:40 - 1:42and in the last few years,
-
1:42 - 1:45we've begun talking about
how we could make a difference -
1:45 - 1:47when we live so far away.
-
1:47 - 1:52That is how Code for Venezuela
was born in 2019. -
1:52 - 1:55It began with a hackathon,
because we are experts in tech, -
1:55 - 1:58and we thought we could use
our tech skills -
1:58 - 2:01to create solutions
for people on the ground. -
2:01 - 2:06But first, we needed to find some experts
actually living inside Venezuela -
2:06 - 2:07to guide us.
-
2:07 - 2:09We'd see so many other hackathons
-
2:09 - 2:14that came up with wily, ambitious,
incredible technological solutions -
2:14 - 2:17that sounded great in theory
but ultimately failed to work -
2:17 - 2:20in the actual countries
they were intended to help. -
2:21 - 2:24Many of us have been
living abroad for years, -
2:24 - 2:27and we are detached
from the day-to-day problems -
2:27 - 2:29that people are facing in Venezuela.
-
2:29 - 2:32So we turned to the experts
actually living inside of the country. -
2:34 - 2:36For example, Julio Castro,
-
2:36 - 2:40a doctor and one of the leaders
of Médicos por la Salud. -
2:41 - 2:46When the government stopped publishing
official health care data in 2015, -
2:46 - 2:50Dr. Julio began collecting
information himself, -
2:50 - 2:53using an informal but coordinated system
-
2:54 - 2:56of cell phone communications.
-
2:56 - 3:00They track available personnel,
medical supplies, mortality data, -
3:00 - 3:02disease outbreaks;
-
3:02 - 3:04compile it into a report;
-
3:04 - 3:05and then share that on Twitter.
-
3:05 - 3:10He became our go-to expert
on health care in Venezuela. -
3:10 - 3:11Luis Carlos Díaz,
-
3:11 - 3:15a widely recognized journalist
who reports acts of censorship -
3:15 - 3:20and human rights violations
suffered by the people of Venezuela, -
3:20 - 3:23he helps us make sense
of what is happening there, -
3:23 - 3:26since the news is controlled
by the government. -
3:27 - 3:29We call these people
our heroes on the ground. -
3:30 - 3:33With their expert advice,
we came up with a series of challenges -
3:33 - 3:35for hackathon participants.
-
3:35 - 3:38In that first hackathon,
we had 300 participants -
3:38 - 3:40from seven countries
-
3:40 - 3:43come up with 16 different
project submissions. -
3:43 - 3:46We picked the projects
with the most potential -
3:46 - 3:49and continued working on them
after the event. -
3:49 - 3:53Today, I'll share two of our most
successful projects -
3:53 - 3:56to give you a taste of the impact
we are having so far. -
3:57 - 4:00They're called MediTweet
and Blackout Tracker. -
4:00 - 4:03MediTweet is an intelligent Twitter bot
-
4:03 - 4:06that helps Venezuelans
find the medicine they need. -
4:06 - 4:08Right now in Venezuela,
-
4:08 - 4:10if you get sick and you go to a hospital,
-
4:10 - 4:15there is a good chance they won't have
the right medical supplies to treat you. -
4:16 - 4:17The situation is so bad
-
4:17 - 4:21that patients often get
a "shopping list" from the doctor -
4:21 - 4:23instead of a prescription.
-
4:24 - 4:26I live the need for this firsthand.
-
4:26 - 4:31My mom was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
-
4:31 - 4:33She needed to have a lumbar puncture
-
4:33 - 4:36to get a final diagnosis
and treatment plan. -
4:37 - 4:40But the needle for this procedure
wasn't available. -
4:40 - 4:43I was in Venezuela at that time,
-
4:43 - 4:46and I was seeing my mom
getting worse in front of me every day. -
4:48 - 4:51After looking everywhere,
we found the needle in a site -
4:51 - 4:53that is like the eBay of Latin America.
-
4:54 - 4:56I met the seller in a local bakery,
-
4:56 - 4:58and it was like buying
something on the black market. -
4:58 - 5:02My mom brought the needle to her doctor,
and he did the procedure. -
5:02 - 5:05Without this, she could have died.
-
5:06 - 5:08But it's not just medical supplies,
-
5:08 - 5:09it's medicines, too.
-
5:09 - 5:11When she was first diagnosed,
-
5:11 - 5:13we bought her treatment
in a state pharmacy, -
5:13 - 5:16and it was, like, practically free.
-
5:16 - 5:18But then the state pharmacy ran out,
-
5:18 - 5:22and we still had six months
of treatment ahead. -
5:23 - 5:25Six months of treatment ahead.
-
5:26 - 5:30We bought some medicines online
and the rest in Mexico. -
5:30 - 5:32Now she's in her third year of remission,
-
5:32 - 5:34and every time that I call,
-
5:34 - 5:37she tells me, "I'm fine, don't worry."
-
5:38 - 5:40But not everyone can afford
to leave the country, -
5:40 - 5:43and many aren't healthy enough to travel.
-
5:43 - 5:46That is why people turn to Twitter,
-
5:46 - 5:50buying and selling medicines
using the hashtag #ServicioPublico, -
5:50 - 5:52meaning "public service."
-
5:52 - 5:57Our Twitter bot scans Twitter
for the hashtag #ServicioPublico -
5:57 - 6:00and connects users who are asking
for specific medicines -
6:00 - 6:04with those who are selling
their private leftovers. -
6:04 - 6:07We also pool the location data
of those Twitter users -
6:08 - 6:10and use it for a visualization tool.
-
6:10 - 6:14It gives local organizations
like Médicos por la Salud -
6:14 - 6:17a sense of where they have a shortage.
-
6:17 - 6:20We can also apply
machine learning algorithms -
6:20 - 6:23to detect clusters of disease.
-
6:23 - 6:25If they've received humanitarian aid,
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6:25 - 6:27this could help them
to make better decisions -
6:28 - 6:30about the distributions of the supplies.
-
6:31 - 6:34Our second project,
is called Blackout Tracker. -
6:35 - 6:39Venezuela is currently going through
an electricity crisis. -
6:39 - 6:43Last year, Venezuela suffered
what some people consider -
6:43 - 6:47the worst power failures
in Venezuelan history. -
6:47 - 6:51I had two long days without
communication with my parents. -
6:51 - 6:54Some cities experienced
blackouts every day. -
6:54 - 6:57But you only know about this
on social media. -
6:58 - 7:01The government won't report
blackouts on the news. -
7:01 - 7:03When the power goes out,
-
7:03 - 7:09many Venezuelans, we quickly tweet out
the location with the hashtag #SinLuz, -
7:09 - 7:11meaning "without electricity,"
-
7:11 - 7:13before their phones ran out of battery,
-
7:13 - 7:16so people around the country
know what is happening. -
7:17 - 7:19Like MediTweet,
-
7:19 - 7:23Blackout Tracker scans Twitter
for the hashtag #SinLuz -
7:23 - 7:27and creates a map using
the location data of those users. -
7:27 - 7:29You can quickly see
-
7:29 - 7:31where the blackouts are happening today
-
7:31 - 7:35and how many blackouts
have happened over time. -
7:36 - 7:38People want to know what is happening,
-
7:38 - 7:40and this is our answer.
-
7:40 - 7:43But it's also a way of holding
the government accountable. -
7:43 - 7:46It's easy for them to deny
that the problem exists -
7:46 - 7:47or make excuses,
-
7:47 - 7:50because there is no official data on it.
-
7:50 - 7:54Blackout Tracker shows how bad
the problem really is. -
7:54 - 7:58Now, some people in Silicon Valley
may look at these projects -
7:59 - 8:02and say that there are no major
technological innovations. -
8:02 - 8:03But that is the point.
-
8:04 - 8:06These projects are not insanely advanced,
-
8:06 - 8:09but it's what the people
of Venezuela need, -
8:09 - 8:11and they can have a tremendous impact.
-
8:11 - 8:16Beyond these projects, perhaps
our most significant accomplishment -
8:16 - 8:18is that a movement has been created,
-
8:18 - 8:22one where people around the world
are coming together -
8:22 - 8:27to use their professional skills to create
solutions for the people of Venezuela. -
8:27 - 8:29And because we are partnering with locals,
-
8:29 - 8:32we are creating the solutions
that people want and need. -
8:33 - 8:35What is so great about this
-
8:35 - 8:37is that we are using
our professional skills, -
8:37 - 8:39so it comes easily and naturally.
-
8:39 - 8:42It's not that hard for us
to make a difference. -
8:43 - 8:45If someone from San Francisco
-
8:45 - 8:47were to hire professionals
to create solutions -
8:47 - 8:50like MediTweet or Blackout Tracker,
-
8:50 - 8:52it would cost a small fortune.
-
8:52 - 8:53By donating our services,
-
8:53 - 8:58we are making a bigger impact
than if we were just to donate money. -
8:59 - 9:00And you can do the same thing --
-
9:00 - 9:02not in Venezuela, necessarily,
-
9:02 - 9:04but in your own community.
-
9:04 - 9:07In a world that is more
connected than ever, -
9:07 - 9:13we still see how specialized communities
can be living isolated or in silos. -
9:14 - 9:16There are so many great ways to help,
-
9:16 - 9:19but I believe that you can use
your professional skills -
9:19 - 9:23to connect diverse communities
and create effective solutions -
9:23 - 9:25through those relationships.
-
9:26 - 9:30Anyone with knowledge
and professional skills -
9:30 - 9:34has a powerful force
to bring hope to a community. -
9:34 - 9:37For us at Code for Venezuela,
-
9:37 - 9:39this is just the beginning.
-
9:39 - 9:40Thank you.
-
9:40 - 9:43(Applause)
- Title:
- Simple, effective tech to connect communities in crisis
- Speaker:
- Johanna Figueira
- Description:
-
The world is more connected than ever, but some communities are still cut off from vital resources like electricity and health care. In this solution-oriented talk, tech activist Johanna Figueira discusses her work with Code for Venezuela -- a platform that helps Venezuelans gain access to vital information and medical supplies -- and shares ideas for how it could be used as a model to help other communities in need.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 09:56
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Joseph Geni edited English subtitles for Simple, effective tech to connect communities in crisis |