The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Technology in the Refugee Aid Movement
summary
Review lists concrete claims, constraints and outcomes: grassroots networks (≈600 groups, tens of thousands of volunteers) rely on spreadsheets, Google Drive, WhatsApp/radios and ad hoc hardware yet reject some software for lack of power or time; several bespoke projects actually ship aid and train people — distribute aid — 750,000€ shipped using Elixir/Phoenix; logistics tools like Boxwise (PHP → React rollback, free‑shop labels) work in production; emergency projects like Alarm Phone — 2,400 cases, 40,000+ saved show real impact.
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chapters (30)
- 0:00Start
- 0:35The Refugee Aid Movement
- 3:40By The Numbers: Europe
- 4:49By The Numbers: Global
- 6:14Help @ Home
- 7:40In The Field
- 10:46In Between
- 11:59No Money, Mo' Problems
- 13:09No Time, Mo' Problems
- 14:00Mo' Government, Mo' Problems
- 14:59Extreme Environments
- 19:17Administration
- 19:31Communication
- 20:01Fundraising
- 20:41Devices
- 22:26Distribute Aid
- 23:47Our Stack
- 24:44Boxwise
- 26:30Needs List
- 27:50Indigo Volunteers
- 29:04Volunteer 4 Refugees
- 30:49Refugee Info Bus
- 32:20Thaki
- 32:54Hack Your Future
- 33:49Alarm Phone
- 36:03The Duality of Tech
- 36:50Google Helped!
- 37:48Facebook Didn't (again)
- 38:34You Have Power
- 40:17Medium
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