We are living in an era of one emergency after another. Whether its COVID, humanitarian crisis due to armed conflict, natural calamities due to global warming, economic downturns, mental health issues or domestic abuse - we are constantly bombarded with situations that can easily turn into personal emergencies. It is very likely that one might need to reach out to whoever is in the immediate vicinity, who can come and help with a situation, whether or not they know the person in question.
Ripple is a platform that can address a need such as this one. We might have a relative, or a son/daughter in another city, state or even country who might need some support in an emergency. Not only can they reach out to anyone in their immediate vicinity, but can also reach out remotely on behalf of their elderly relatives. Ripple also allows for certified organisations to securely provide help.
Social/Humanitarian Organisations
Social Organisations can create securely managed public groups on the Ripple platform. Participants of such public groups consist of-
Admins - who manage the organisation, addition of volunteers and manage escalations from public.
Volunteers - who provide assistance to the local public in their vicinity.
Public - who can securely reach out for trusted help to volunteers in their vicinity.
Remote relatives of elders - who are in a remote location but can securely reach out for trusted help to volunteers in the vicinity of their elderly relatives, on their behalf.
Find out how Ripple as a platform has enabled this social initiative.
1) Registration / onboarding
Admins, volunteers, public and relatives of elders need to download the Ripple App
Find out How Ripple Works
Social organisations can register themselves on Ripple.
Admins can add new certified volunteers of the organisation and manage the tag.
2) Follow the organisation to receive local posts from the vicinity
Social and humanitarian outreach organisations can broadcast to everyone around about services being provided in the area. Based on the trends in the area, people can follow the organisations to view their broadcast messages and can get in touch in response to those broadcasts.
3) General public can reach out for secure trusted assistance
People can ask for specific personal help from such organisations, and will be securely connected ONLY to certified members of the social or humanitarian organisation who are currently in the vicinity.
In this case, Natasha's post (who is not a member of Red Cross) can only be seen by Neil (who is a volunteer of Red Cross), who is currently in the vicinity of Natasha. Neil can then respond to the post and get in touch to provide assistance. Other non-members cannot see the post, even though they are in the vicinity of Natasha.
4) Secure Assistance just a touch away
Now Ripple also offers a new feature where this is literally a click away on the app. The feature includes two buttons- a red “Assist” and a blue “Am Safe”. Their status icon will also indicate whether they need assistance.
The blue “Am Safe” button is useful for those who on a day-to-day basis might have relatives concerned about their well-being (such as elders living on their own) or people caught in the midst of natural calamities or armed conflict. Their status icon will also indicate that they are OK.
The red “Assist” alert can be securely posted to certified members of social or humanitarian organisations, who are currently in the vicinity. Whoever needs assistance, can reach out to the relevant people providing assistance in the vicinity by pressing a red 'Assist' button.
If there are social outreach groups in a locality, the certified helpers of this group could watch for the red “Assist” alerts of this type from their locality and be available for assistance.
5) Local Trust and Safety
Trust is addressed as follows:
Users can 'rate' a post for the benefit of others in the locality, by clicking on the Ripple icon. Individual post's rating add up to provide a 'profile rating' for the user. Profile details can be seen by clicking on the 'profile rating'. Profile details include the overall users feedback on a users posts and conversations. The stats also show number of followers and users that are blocking that person
The feedback (ratings) on individual volunteer's posts with the social organisation tag add to the overall rating of the tag. This will give the general public reassurance and trust in the organisation based on the rating.
Safety is addressed as follows
You don’t need to share your phone number or personal details with others, in order to really be an integral part of your neighborhood with access to everything it has to offer.
You can follow or block others depending on your personal interactions with them.
You can view ratings linked to group owners/admin or services before you decide to interact with them. Feedback given by others is invaluable in enabling a safe interaction.
General public reaching out for help will only be connected with certified volunteers in the locality. Each post clearly indicates if the author of the post is a certified volunteer or not. Knowing that you are talking to a certified volunteer will reassure the general public that the interaction is safe and trustworthy.
Issues can be reported to Admins in case of escalations.
6) Family of elders can remotely reach out for assistance on behalf of their elderly relatives
Aging parents/relatives are not always the most tech-savvy. Ripple has a great feature that enables users to access information from the locality of their parents/relatives, needing assistance or support. You don't need to join specific groups. Your parents network is around them, which you can remotely reach out to.
In today’s world that's facing one emergency after another, having a way to connect with those in your neighborhood may be a “need-to-do” rather than a “nice-to-do”. Everyone has something to offer. This is a great way to step out and own your own tag and influence your neighborhood! Join Ripple today!
The Ripple Effect
You can do all of the above without users having to share personal contact information or without previously having to know anyone in your locality. A 3 km radius is approximately 28.3 sq. km coverage area. In a city like Bangalore with a population density of 12K plus people per sq. km this translates into 350,000 people! So even if a fair percentage of people in a locality install and use the app, it could have a BIG impact.
