MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

TheHelpNetwork

One-line solution summary.

TheHelpNetwork is an initiative to bring about a transparent way for people to collaborate to distribute goods and materials efficiently during everyday and critical situations.

Elevator pitch

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What is your solution?

TheHelpNetwork is a trustworthy blockchain-based solution that can assist in overcoming today's most challenging difficulties. Businesses, governments, health organizations, NGOs, and the general public can benefit from this trusted platform for significantly improving processes and sharing resources with those in need in near real-time.

With our system, we can eliminate blind spots, unlock insights, and increase efficiency, agility, and accountability by enabling NGOs to work together to solve this global pandemic and prepare for the road ahead by collaborating and helping the needy.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

Humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly facing challenges due to the adverse effects of COVID-19 and the high incidence of natural disasters. Every country is experiencing an economic crisis due to the present worldwide pandemic; the supply chain for food and other necessities has been interrupted. Food shortages, stockpiling, and mismanagement of products have all resulted from this disruption. These difficulties have substantially impacted the lower middle class and poor, who cannot obtain basic things due to a lack of availability or cost of commodities. To provide them with necessities, different NGOs and government agencies conduct ration drives.

However, these essentials aren't being delivered due to a lack of coordination between these groups. The disconnect between supply and demand can lead to an over-or under-supply of goods and materials. There is often no trusted system for getting correct information on supply and demand requirements for goods (some families are not getting supplies while others are getting them multiple times).

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

NGOs are the primary source of assistance for poor people and lack access to food, clothing, and other necessities. Even in the face of natural disasters or pandemics where people require assistance, global and small-scale NGOs are the first to respond. As a result, NGOs' difficulties affect everyone who is directly or indirectly involved with NGOs. We worked with NGOs to better understand the situation; they expressed concerns about the validity and openness of ration and other products distribution.

And the ongoing struggle among NGOs for a limited pool of resources is most evident in grant applications to major donors. Explicitly competitive tenders draw offers from dozens of NGOs, but only a few are selected. Those who win the money will hire additional people; those who do not will likely have to lay off workers. The same dynamic is played out when attracting public funds, albeit in a less visible way. Some NGOs have distinct supporting demography; others do not. It's challenging to strike the correct balance between an inevitable and perhaps beneficial element of competition among NGOs, and this eventually leads them to the second temptation: compromise.

These demands – to compromise and compete – are inextricably linked to the desire to stay relevant and robust. However, there is a third "c" that must be discussed more during NGO board meetings: collaboration. NGOs currently collaborate well on various topics, including campaigns and programming difficulties, but not enough for joint fundraising or sharing their resources.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

The idea has its origin from pandemic having an immediate toll on human health by spreading coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and mounting the economics and the livelihoods at stake. The COVID-19, more than any other event in our lifetime, emphasizes the interconnection of our globe.

The pandemic profound impacts have exposed critical problems in access to the supply of resources like education and health care in developed and developing countries when we need speedy, coordinated action and collaboration.

The present status quo of the working of NGOs is different, thus ending in inefficient handling of resources, the number of resources ain't monitored through a system hence resulting in black-marketing in times of crises ( oxygen cylinders/medicines during covid).

We personally felt that to navigate through this crisis — and prepare for the long recovery ahead in a changing world — we need a trustworthy platform now more than ever to automate antiquated modes of working, instantly piece together disparate non-profits, and unleash the true power of collaboration.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Improving financial and economic opportunities for all (Economic Prosperity)

Our solution's stage of development:

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

Manipal, Karnataka, India

Team Lead:

Pratyaksh Gupta