Coastal community emergency preparedness network in a box

Fast deployment emergency self-sustaining network in a box stored in water proof containers for deployment in case of emergency.

What is the problem that we are committed to solving? 

Energy and communication infrastructure in coastal communities is vulnerable to sea level rise in general, and storms, earthquakes and other weather related events in particular. In many cases, those events are leaving coastal communities devastated and isolated for a  prolonged period of time. As those events are developing rapidly and massively, in many cases the emergency and recovery responses, are not fast enough or sufficient to address the magnitude and  penetration levels of the devastating event. Bottom line: 

Today, many communities are not ready to address proactively coastal related devastations where the energy and communication infrastructure collapses. As a result, they remain for a long time without sources of energy  and means of communication which carries in turn health, economic and social severe consequences.

As a result of this situation, there is a need to think and prepare proactively to such events in the form or emergency preparedness. Furthermore , this preparedness needs to include all members of the community so that they can actively be part of the solution and know how to act in case of emergency. 

What is the solution we are proposing?

Our solution provides standby means of self-sustained off-grid energy and communication reources for vulnerable coastal communities as part of an emergency preparedness plan. Our proposed systems can be  located ahead of time  in a protected manner, at  targeted coastal areas as an emergency preparedness mean.  Those resources can then be ready to be rapidly deployed for the usage by the population in those locations,  as well as for the first responders, in case of a coastal related disaster.

Tehcnicaly our solution features:

– Fast deployment

– Energy self-sustainable

– Network access technology agnostic 

– Portable

– Scalable in self-sustained power and communication wide-spread

- Water resistant 

Our solution is meant to be compatible and coexist with the community emergency preperdness plans and standards. As such, it can utilize existing resources and interface with them as seamlessly as possible, towards a fast and smoother integration with other resources.

Another principle of operation of our solution is to involve in each solution realization team (be it: building,  maintaining or deploying ) a core that will include representation of local experts and  need knowers (those that know the most about the challenges  in a specific community) working together at each level of the implementation.

How will your solution change the world?

We believe that our model of operation is the key to being world changing.

- Our solution core to global includes teams that represent makers and need knowers that are  rooted in particular communities characteristics and constrains as well as communicating and exchanging knowledge within a  global network of coastal communities.

- As our solution is not for profit, open source and not propriety , we believethat we are more likely to be inclusive, and approachable by researchers , developers, need-knowers, and other stakeholders.

We Envision a worldwide  network of stakeholders that will cooperate with no borders with the goal to help coastal communities globally.

Our solution is mainly  a new application of an existing technology as well as  process for solving the emergency preparedness of coastal communities to loss of communication and energy infrastructure. With that said, several elements of the solution requires new technologies to be integrated  in the solution. Among the new technologies are new materials and manufacturing processes of renewable energy as well algorithms in the field of Internet of everything.

In order for our solution to be successful, it needs to use proven yet innovative technology.   Here are some of the technology principles that we employ in the solution:

- A very efficient solar energy capturing and storing technology.

- Contains multiple wireless technology capabilities so that the system may be access technology agnostic and adaptable to any condition

-An advanced mash network to improve coverage and deployment efficeny

- Advanced surveillance network with image processing image and audio processing capabilities .

In the current state, our prototype allows demonstration for most of the planned features.    

However we need to be able to scale it up and commercialize it in order to be able to bring it to readiness for a pilot.

Therefore, if the required resources will materialize during the next 12 months we have the following goals:

- Increase the team of volunteers , employees and constructors working on the prototype

- Move to a state of a stable integrated prototype with some of our partners

- Advance from the state of a stable prototype to a pilot

The key for our solution to impact more communities and people around the world is our ability to :

- Have a very good understanding of the needs

- Have the proper teams and partnership with stakeholders in our ecosystem in order to be able to provide better solution with a better value for a lower price with fast manufacturing deployment capabilities

Taken ib account these criteria we estimate the following:

In three years we want to see our solution deployed successfully in at least 20 communities globally.

In five years we want to see our solution deployed successfully in at least 500 communities globally.

As a global non-profit organization we maintain a wide community of beneficiaries and volunteers and other stakeholders. We do it through face to face community reach outs or through remote communication channels including but not limited to social networks. The following  map shows our reach-out ecosystem:

The following is our organization activity map :

Here are some examples:

Our Open World Net platform, where Need knowers work together with inventors on projects, like the  CCEPNIB

- Organization of  Hackathons and Makeathons  in the field of Assistive Technology

- Our Community evolution youth network initiative

- Our participation in makers organization activities

As our solution is currently only in a prototype stage we do not serve beneficiaries with this solution. However we reached out to our network of stakeholders in order to allow efficient realization of this goal.  

Within the next 12 months after the pilot completes successfully we hope to deploy our solution in several communities in the USA and Canada.

Within 3 years we hope to be serving 20-40 communities.

We need a diverse group of people to help implement distribute and deploy our solutions among them:

- Communication experts and in particular mobile communication proffesionals

- Software proffesionals

- Community volunteers and organizers

Our project is not for profit . yet it has to be sustainable. Therefore as we develop everything as an open source , our revenue model is based on grants and donations primarily.

Our solution is built on a model that involve crowd solving in all it's aspect including the following components:

- Open source development, open to every one to improve, manufacture and deploy.

- An ecosystem that always involves stakeholders from all aspects of the challenge including but not limited to Need Knowers technical people and community activists.

Therefore I believe that solve can help in networking , evaluation from the very diverse and capable team worldwide. and if possible funds. 

Our strength can also be a barrier if not addressed properly. As we are  an  open source non-profit initiative, it may be more difficult to have access to funds from stakeholders that are looking for a significant monetary return on investment. 

Due to this situation a collaboration initiative like solve can be a perfect marketplace for our solution as it enables many people, communities, groups, and resources. to help us not just in funding but also in executing a viable and ever improving solution with a social environmental and economical aspects.