Konbit: Sustainable Development for Haiti, MIT-style
Two researchers from the Fluid Interfaces group at MIT's Media Lab have developed a novel way to manage sustainable development work in post-crisis zones. Aaron Zinman and Greg Elliot are applying their ideas to post-quake-Haiti, and the outcome is called Konbit. In their words, Konbit is "a service that helps communities rebuild themselves after a crisis by indexing the skill sets of local residents, allowing NGOs to find and employ them." Basically, Konbit is an online database of available skills in a particular area, with an interface that can overcome language and illiteracy barriers - crucial for the sustainable (re)development of a place like Haiti, where over 50% of the population is illiterate.
How does Konbit contribute to a more sustainable form of development?
Haitians can call an automated service and record a message [in English or Creole] explaining where they are and what they can do. The skills indexed could be anything from construction to translation to machine repair to leadership abilities. Zinman and Elliot emphasize the importance of indexing all types of skills, not only those which one might list on a resume, insisting that following a crisis, all skills can contribute to a sustainable redevelopment effort. After the message is recorded, it is translated into English text by volunteers from Haiti, the Haitian diaspora, and the international community. The, the English text is banked in the Konbit database and made searchable via natural language processing; NGO workers in need of local skilled labor can search the database to find individuals in a particular area who have a particular skill set. A dedicated local NGO acts as an intermediary, interviewing and vetting potential candidates.
Zinman and Elliot hope that their efforts will aid reconstruction efforts in Haiti, while discouraging the outsourcing of labor to non-Haitians. Development is more sustainable, they argue, when it utilizes local skills, provides training for local labor, and fosters the growth of a local economy. The two are now working on ways to make the Konbit interface even smarter, for example, using statistical analysis to predict skill associations. If a local lists "pouring concrete" as a skill, they might receive this text message in response: "People that tend to be good at pouring concrete, also tend to be good at rubble removal. Would you like to add rubble removal to your skill list?" Zinman and Elliot hope that by providing feedback to Konbit's users they can do more than aid in sustainable development of infrastructure - they can also help people to appreciate and articulate their own capabilities.
Photo Credit: www.abitare.it
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