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WITH THE DIRECTION messaging is going, it’s easy to assume that the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegraph and Viber have all but replaced SMS.
Yet despite its age, SMS isn’t going anywhere yet and while newer methods overshadow it, it’s still one of the most commonplace mediums around.
For Ciarán Duffy, who is based in Copenhagen, this helped form the basis of his startup, designed to help refugees.
He and his other co-founders, Caroline Arvidsson from Sweden and Kåre Solvåg from Norway, are developing an SMS and Facebook Messenger service that would provide refugees arriving in Europe with consistent, relevant information regarding their situation.
While the use of SMS for sending information isn’t new, it’s the use of chatbots that makes it a little different. A person can start off a conversation with it – choosing whether to get answers in English or Arabic – and by replying with simple numerical answers, they can get relevant information based on information like their age, gender, location, if you have a spouse, child or family, and where they’re based.
The system is currently a work in progress; the startup only began in January and it’s only focusing on Norway, Sweden and Germany, but it’s currently in talks with humanitarian aid organisations about adopting the service and expanding it to other countries.
According to Duffy, the reason for choosing SMS as the starting point was because of its ubiquity and immediateness.
“The reason we chose SMS as the medium is it’s a very direct communication tool,” he said. “It’s more immediate a communication channel than an app or website”.
[When researching] one of the big things we noticed was there was a huge information gap between the people working to inform refugees and the refugees themselves. Often they would encounter authorities… [but] they had no information on where they could go or what would be expected of them.
One of the problems with getting such information out is both speed and reliability. The usual methods of sharing information in camps are through loudspeakers, flyers and pamphlets which aren’t particularly effective.
Because of that, it means that refugees often rely on each other for information which creates its own problem. What might be true for one person might not apply to others and if that information spreads, then it can easily lead to confusion and problems especially as the needs change, says Duffy.
The length of time that a refugee would spend in a camp could be anything between 2 to 15 years so the kinds of information they need starts to evolve the longer they spend in these situations. Initially they can be things like family reunification to asylum information then it evolves to more situational and contextual information like where the next food distribution point is.
While the initial aim was to send out quick, relevant pieces of information, the information needed to make informed decisions is anything but. The texts are broken up into segments which can be quite dense, but that’s down to the complexity of the information required by those using it.
“What we found when we worked with the experts is it’s quite complex information and you have to deliver all sides of the information,” explained Duffy. “Once we realised that, we were worried that the info would be too long… but in testing that, the response has been overwhelmingly positive”.
In the testing, we found that refugees respond very well when they can relate the information back to their own case so that’s why we try to personalise the information… to your nationality, to where your family are in Europe or if they’re back home.
It’s early days for the startup but for now, it’s in talks with different humanitarian organisations about partnering and piloting the scheme in countries like Jordan and Greece as well as testing it with refugees to see what’s working.
It’s also been in talks with telecom providers about support as well, but the ultimate aim is to provide “this one trustworthy source that’s always bound to be up to date” according to Duffy.
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There should be no panic, but the ones say it’s only a flu should wake up. Education prevents unnecessary outbreaks.
@Caoimhín O Neill: hope the health system can withstand it. 20% are in serious or critical condition …
@Zhen Lao: That is why this is so serious and some people don’t seem to get it. The flu is as bad but the vulnerable can get vaccinated against it. There is no vaccination for this so hospitals will be over run if it gets out of control……if it gets out of control you won’t get a bed in a hospital not a hope, you are then in the lap of the Gods.
@Caoimhín O Neill: this is the new norm I suspect
@Caoimhín O Neill: Roughly 650,000 people die every year world wide from the flu and that’s from a base of 5,000 000 being infected, 10% chance of death.
Corona has roughly a 4% chance of death at the moment,
You’re absolutely right though, there’s no reason to take it lightly, or help it spread giving it a chance to mutate.
@GrassHopper: your stats are faulty. There are 5 million cases of infection alone in the US yearly. Fatality from seasonal flu is as low as 0.1%
@GrassHopper: Your figures are way off
@GrassHopper: Only 5 million get infected by the flu because we have built up a reasonable degree of heard immunity and we have vaccines. There’s no reason why Covid19 will stop at 5 million infections.
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: Thank you random stranger on the internet with your credible whatsapp group reference. You’ve made a very convincing case of which I can see now reason to doubt.
I am in Singapore and temperature testing is conducted in shops, restaurants hotels, etc. Having a national Id or passport linked to the logged temperature tests in a central database. The number of cured people is now outnumbering new cases. Very professional approach to the problem, they learned to prepare after getting caught unprepared for SARS. All office based companies are splitting their staff to different shifts and or office / home work.
Another hour, another Coronavirus article…
@Ricky: they are really milking this story today. Must be a slow news day.
@Johnny B: Yet, here you both are reading and commenting on it.
@Très Bien: and whinging :)
The symptoms could be any form of flu. Very vague. But then flu is a virus too. Can understand why many people might go undetected.
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: ebola or covid-19? I couldn’t tell with such clinical detail from WhatsApp. That being said, I don’t think the same country that currently has 2 people at a desk at Dublin airport (who look like they’re trying to collect for a sponsored walk) could lock down anything.
I feel like this most days!
We’ll be grand. We’ll just get former Junior Minister Joe Jacob to roll out his iodine tablets, just like he was planning to do in response to the Chernobyl fallout.
And now it seems you can get it twice?
@NotMyIreland: whether people are recovered or not is the question..
@Caoimhín O Neill: I dont know they seemingly had recovered and tested negative at the start of February but tested positive again 2 weeks later?
@NotMyIreland: yes, so unanswered questions..
@Caoimhín O Neill: so many*
@Caoimhín O Neill: the tests are fairly unreliable, I saw an accuracy rate of between 40 to 50%. So people have to be tested four or five times to get an accurate result and even then it’s not a done deal
@NotMyIreland: you can get flu multiple times.
Since it started I have been glued to twitter, scary stuff.
Take a look at BNO Newsroom (@BNODesk): https://twitter.com/BNODesk?s=09
@Sam Cairns: maybe watch “medcram” or “Dr. John Campbell” on YouTube instead. More informative. Also keep an eye on the John Hopkins data page which is updated every 6 hours.
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: Interesting. I’ve also just received a very credible email from a Nigerian prince who needs to transfer a huge inheritance payment out of the country – he said he would split it with me if I help him with the transfer. Just about to send him my bank details, cant believe my luck!
Can’t wait to get the dart to work next week
Stat at home and die alone. All the best. Government.
@MitchConnor: in addition, if you have come from an infected area, continue as normal until you offically are diagnosed and have risked spreading it
How do you spot the difference between covid and flu
@Shawn O’Ceallaghan: severity really. Covid19 doesn’t cause sneezing it appears
@Jonathan Morgan: It is possible to have both Covid-19 and flu concurrently so sneezing shouldn’t be seen as an indicator that Covid-12 isn’t present in individuals exposed to the virus.
@Andi O Donoghue: positive confirmed! The end is nigh!
Keep milking it journal
@Fergus: you’re welcome.
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: quick run
Just curious, what are the legal powers to detain a person in quarantine? And how could that be carried out?
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: is that ppl positive or being tested?
And meanwhile selfish parasites buying masks in bulk and selling them for triple the price in differents sites. Advert.ie and marketplace in facebook among them.
This should be made iligal at this point.
F*** All I wanna know bout it…
@Stevo The Man On A Mission Returns: is that positive or tested?
have your say