Last Mile Mobile Solutions Program Streamlines Food and Aid Distribution in Real Time
Thoughtworks, a global technology company, in partnership with the Christian humanitarian agency World Vision Canada, announced that over 137,000 people affected by Typhoon Haiyan have received supplies, including rice and cash distributions via World Vision’s Last Mile Mobile Solutions (LMMS) system. The mobile program empowers mobile users to register recipient information electronically and ultimately produce a bar-coded photo card. When swiped on the same hand-held device, this card produces the information needed to determine and distribute food and non-food items.
Generating reports through LMMS takes just seconds and the time associated with planning and distribution of relief supplies has been significantly reduced. This allows aid agencies to reach more distressed communities in the Philippines with the same human and financial resources. To date, more than 27,500 households in the areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan have been registered through LMMS World Vision staff in the Philippines. In addition, global humanitarian agencies, such as Oxfam, are being trained to implement the use of LMMS in their own relief efforts for Typhoon Haiyan.
Funded by a grant from the Government of Canada, Thoughtworks’ Canadian team collaborated closely with World Vision to develop the necessary back-end technology to get the program up and running, including the ongoing development of an offline application to enhance the rapid emergency deployment capacities of LMMS. “The efficiency brought about by LMMS means that World Vision Philippines staff no longer spend many hours generating paper-based reports and other mundane tasks”, says Keith Chibafa of World Vision’s Global Office of Strategy Collaboration and Innovation. “The staff are proud to be associated with LMMS, which allows affected families to be treated with dignity because they no longer have to wait in queues for many hours on end to receive their rations.”
“Over the last four months we have collaborated closely with World Vision and are proud to participate in a noble undertaking such as LMMS”, said Craig Gorsline, Thoughtworks President and Chief Operating Officer. “The globalized nature of LMMS is exactly the type of work we at Thoughtworks get excited about, as we continue in our mission to empower people through technology. The people of the Philippines have a long recovery ahead, and we will do everything we can to help in the recovery process.”
To learn more about how to donate to help survivors of Typhoon Haiyan please visit: http://www.worldvision.ca/GIVE-A-GIFT/Pages/Philippines-Disaster-Relief.aspx