MIT Solve

Basic Information

Solution Name

GAPI (Good API)

Tagline:

Promoting social good through open and secure data processing interfaces.

Pitch:

GAPI - Good API is an API solution that collects, stores and sorts data while alerting users of data usage outside their authorized purview to prevent data misuse and ensure data privacy. GAPI seeks to promote an inclusive and robust data collection, data warehousing and a secure data security platform.

GAPI is designed to convert USSD transaction history, satellite imagery, social media profiles, cooperative & thrift records into part of a workable dataset for the identification and inclusion of those at the bottom of pyramid. The GAPI will then code each existing and new identities with unique identification number that is traceable across the internet. The unique identification code will work with a central data meter that affords data owners to receive alerts whenever their data is accessed anywhere on the internet. GAPI also allows users to voluntarily list their data for research purposes or stop the use of their data as they deem fit.

The development, design and deployment of GAPI would incur a startup cost of 48,000 USD spread over a definite time frame of 9 months to complete the development process. The product pack will also include a USSD platform that would collect data of up to 1,600,000 people including those living in the remotest place in Nigeria over the remaining 3 months in the first fiscal year. GAPI would be piloted in Lagos, Nigeria with the target of getting the data of over 100 million Nigerians in the next 3 years and aims to realize the transformational potential of personal data control vis-a-vis a robust digital identification system to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria.

LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited houses a team of diverse and robust professional with up to 50 years cumulative experience in data science, data technology, software engineering, project delivery, monitoring & evaluation and business development.

Solution location:

Lagos, Nigeria

Solution's stage of development:

Idea

About Your Solution

What makes the solution innovative:

The GAPI solution is unique as there is no existing technology in Nigeria that collects data in digital format, connect, analyzes and facilitates data privacy & control for the data owners.

This solution is designed to fully explore the API technology and new technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence.

How the solution demonstrates 'privacy by design':

GAPI will demonstrate design by ‘privacy by design’ by deploying a system that integrates unique identification, tokenization and data metering processes.

An 8-digit number, referred to as a Personal Identification Number shall consist of gender, year of birth, date of birth, serial number separating persons born on a same date, and a checksum. Through the PIN the data of a citizen is linked across systems/databases and provides complete 360 degree view of the user.

While general data can be made available to third party, sensitive data for any individual will require authorization (from the data owner/user) through tokenization. During usage of any given data, the owner can use a Data Metering system to determine the extent of information gotten and used all at the same time. This is to restrain cyber theft and misuse of personal information.

Data sharing is allowed after authentication and authorization of the requesting entity and is encrypted in transit to protect against attacks. While logging the transactions, pseudonymization of personal data is done to protect privacy and when the data are shared/used for analytics, anonymization of data is done to protect privacy.

How the solution can be incorporated into digital identification systems:

Our solution is an application programming interface (API); hence it is only a few lines of code and it is seamlessly integrated with other digital identification systems.

The API system is also built upon a cloud data service; which invariably reduces the cost and time of custom Web service development.

How the solution is 'user-friendly':

The API connects to a secure and independent dashboard, hence there is no need to labor the user's IT resources.

Collecting data from users with low internet access is also relatively easy as the GAPI can easily integrate with USSD systems. For the users who do not understand English language, the language translator embedded in the GAPI will make their on-boarding and continual usage convenient. Collecting, updating and tracking data is almost seamless because the system requests for minimal data.

How the solution ensures interoperability:

GAPI is an open API solution, which provides integration with other systems. GAPI allows various types of systems in diverse locations to interact freely with one another. GAPI also affords data portability and prevention of vendor lock-in by putting an abstraction layer in place between an existing system and the API thereby supporting portability efforts by minimizing the amount of re-coding that would be required should an agency wish to migrate to a new vendor. GAPI shall make use of newer system, specifically Apache Cassandra in order to provide more portable and interoperable solutions thereby eliminating proprietary lock-in.

How the solution accounts for low connectivity environments and for users with low literacy and numeracy levels:

Our solution puts into consideration areas that have low connectivity and users with low literacy and numeracy skills and we have in response prepared to build a USSD data collection service through mobile phones message prompts. Another inclusive strategy is the use of satellite images and agent networks, the API would get data from any area no matter how remote.

Vision over the next three to five years to implement or grow the solution to affect the lives of more people:

GAPI would have ensured data privacy across Africa. The synchronization of multiple data from multiple sources to GAPI would enable GAPI generate real time data which can be accessed by the Government and influence government policies on health, education, water & sanitation, gender inclusion and other SDG goals.

We would develop a robust business model for GAPI by ensuring we create new products around authorized data.

New products like business intelligence services for SMEs and large corporations would be created. GAPI will scale to other developing countries to create identification solutions.

Country where the solution primarily operates:

Nigeria

About Your Team

How the solution team is organized:

For-Profit

How many people work on the solution:

6-10

Solution age:

Less than 1 year

The organizations applicants are currently working with:

None

We have our in-house team of product development experts.

Applicant skills that can attract the different resources needed to succeed and make an impact:

LoftyInc Allied Partners Ltd. has a robust team with a combined professional experience of over 50 years.

Our in-house Product Development team has vast experience in developing innovative tech products with capacity for huge social impact working with organizations like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, AfDB, Development Bank of Nigeria, Worley Parsons etc

Our team are comprised of UI/UX, software engineers, front end and back-end developers, Programmers and Data Scientists.

We also have robust team of experience Project Managers, Business Analysts, Innovation Managers and Business Development Experts.

Revenue model:

Innovation Consulting for Corporate and Government Organization - This would be delivered through our insights generated from data made available to us via GAPI. We would be in pole position to offer advisory services to these organizations on formulation of policies, building of new products etc

Sale of Scrambled Dataset to Third Party Organization. - GAPI is designed to adopt the Direct-Inside sales and usage fee revenue model. GAPI will build a Big Data IT solution from users based on their consent through a message that would be sent through AI, to identify, manipulate and extract exactly the data that researchers need and make it available to them within extremely fast timescales..

We shall generate revenue from providing data related services to third party users with the consent of the data owners and charge the third parties a fee per use. In this revenue model, the customer will pay for the use of the service depending on how much he uses it. The usage will be determined by different factors such as volume of data which is to be analyzed, the number of end-customers or customer visits and the number of queries, channels or requests, as well as number of accesses granted.

Partnership Potential