The Pirate Cell Towers of Rural Mexico

In war zones, people have a difficult time finding clean water and safe areas to inhabit. Social media, smart phones, and technology applications are aiding in people’s survival. In Aleppo, Syria, the International Committee of the Red Cross posted a map on Facebook to show alternative sources of clean drinking water that reached approximately 140,000 people.

The 2008 recession’s job losses spurred a development of a Do-It-Yourself economy. With the advent of Uber, Etsy, Airbnb, and others, the marketplace has become full of micro-entrepreneurs who thrive with independent web-assisted businesses.

The Photo Patch Foundation helps connect children with parents who are experiencing incarceration. Using its website or mobile app, children can write letters and upload photos, which will then be printed and mailed by the organization at no cost. The Foundation, funded by donations and grants, was created by a father-daughter duo who had experienced the issue firsthand.

Preventing suicide and helping people when they feel most alone are big goals but they are exactly what 'Crisis Text Line' aims to do. This hotline allows individuals to text trained counselors when they are at their most vulnerable, the counselors can talk to them and reach First Responders if the situation warrants it.

By leveraging technology, artists living above the 60th parallel are increasing indigenous representation in filmmaking. In Yellowknife, Canada, aRTLess Collective’s Dead North Film Festival uses live streaming to reach thousands of residents across remote—and otherwise largely inaccessible—northern areas. The film festival connects and empowers indigenous northerners to represent themselves and their culture through film.

Non-profit organization Reliefwatch is addressing supply chain breakdowns for developing world health clinics by sending them robocalls asking about procurement needs. The information updates a database in real time, allowing suppliers to get the drugs in the hands of the clinics in need and avoiding expiration of excess stock. “The whole idea in terms of the system is that the data goes up into a cloud system that can then be accessed by a manager, the supplier, whoever is relevant,” Yu says.

CARE Nigeria created a WhatsApp chatbot in 2022 to combat vaccine misinformation. The chatbot provides parents with real-time answers about childhood immunizations, nearby clinic locations, vaccine schedules and side effects, available 24/7 without judgment. To drive awareness, CARE ran a Facebook advertising campaign from December 2022 to February 2023, reaching 3.6 million people.

The Everywhere Is Queer mobile app houses a directory of over 13,000 LGBTQ+-owned brick-and-mortar and online businesses, services and community groups around the world. The app features a map that highlights LGBTQ+-friendly businesses and safe spaces for members of the community and allies to frequent. The app also features a job board and access to therapists and has been downloaded over 80,0000 times since February.

The HeyKiddo app and educational curriculum allow parents and teachers to access information and activities that help develop students’ social and emotional health and empathy, teach them how to make responsible decisions and maintain healthy relationships. Over 500 families currently use the app and the portion for teachers, called The Huddle, is used in a handful of schools in California, with plans to expand.

A program run by Hungary’s largest phone company pairs high school students with seniors to teach them how to use smartphones, computers, and the internet. These after-school sessions allow students to fulfill their community-service graduation requirements.