ColorADD: A social responsible solution that enables colorblind to identify colors.

Congratulations! This Entry has been selected as a finalist.

ColorADD: A social responsible solution that enables colorblind to identify colors.: ColorADD is a universal graphic code whose mission is to enable the social integration of persons with colour vision deficiency.

Porto, PortugalPorto
Project Stage:
Scaling
Budget: 
< $1,000
Share page with AddThis
Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

ColorADD is a universal graphic code whose mission is to enable the colorblind to identify colors. It supports the social integration of persons with color vision deficiency. The kids in Schools may be discriminated because they don´t distinguish the Colors. But then through an Alliance with a pencil maker (Viarco), they are providing pencils with ColorADD code that avoid discrimination.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Colorblindness, or color vision deficiency, affects approximately 10% of men and 1 in 200 women - approximately 350 million people around the world. The problem Solved in this project is that 10% of the kids are “discriminated” in school because they can´t distinguish colors and that this can leave some kind of trauma when they grow up.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

Together with Viarco you have created pencils that allow colorblind kids to distinguish colors and therefore perform a lot better in school. Education is a strategic activity of our mission and consequently we offer the code for schools and school libraries on a pro bono basis. With both models of commercial licensing for Business, where the license fees its adapted to the dimension of the company and with a pro-bono model for the education (non-profit), we aim to transform the world in terms of color inclusion and equality for every people since the early years. With Viarco we are achieving this goal.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

Juliano is a children who lives in Cordoba, Argentina. The discovery of ColorADD coincided with implementation of the code in the Viarco pencils. Miguel Neiva was contacted by Juliano´s Mother who told him the difficulties and constraints of Juliano in school, and thanking Miguel for having been able to find a solution that does not obliged the colorblind to assume ther condition – a little bit hard for a child. Miguel asked him to send is address and without saying, he send them a Pencil box with ColorADD. Since that time, Miguel has been presented by Juliano with the most friendly and affectionate phrases like Guardian Angel. “We need something more to feel good and happy? I Think Not” said Miguel Neiva.

Spread Strategies: Moving forward, what are the main strategies for scaling impact?

Our goal is to spread the code nationally and internationally , and to achieve this aspiration we developed a strategy to make Portugal a platform for the development of international projects with " Know -how ". We are now starting to expand into foreign markets based on accumulated experience in various areas of activity : Health ( Hospitals ) , Public Transportation , Schools , Universities , Municipality and Companies in general , which include the School and Didatic Supplies Companies . It is through the products of our partners like Viarco, present in 20 countries that the code has gained greater virality , ensuring visibility and recognition, due to their usefulness for a large minority of the population and the creation of social and economic value added for companies.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

ColorADD don´t have any competitors doing the same work. ColorADD is a unique and pantented tool with several support and recognition of "good pratice" from ColorBlind Associations and other entities from different countries.
Team

Team

ColorADD is looking for the best passionate people to work in our project.
About the Lead Co-Creation Partners
Organization:
Viarco, Indústria de Lápis, Lda
Visit website
LEAD SOCIAL-MISSION ORGANIZATION
Type of organization (e.g. NGO, association, not-for-profit, foundation, social enterprise)

Social Enterprise

Total Number of Full-Time Employees

3

Lead Contact First Name

Miguel

Lead Contact Last Name

Neiva

Title

MsC

Country

Portugal

Twitter URL

n/a

Facebook URL

https://pt-pt.facebook.com/pages/ColorADD-sistema-de-identifica%C3%A7%C3...

Website

www.coloradd.net/

LEAD CORPORATE PARTNER
Organization Name

Viarco, Indústria de Lápis, Lda

Total Number of Full-Time Employees

20

Lead Contact First Name

José

Lead Contact Last Name

Vieira

Title

Mr

Country

Portugal

Twitter URL

n/a

Facebook URL

https://www.facebook.com/ViarcoPortugal

Organization Website

http://www.viarco.pt/

Basic Info
Project Starting Year

2010

Primary European Country where this Project is creating social impact

, PO, Porto

Additional European countries where this Project is creating social impact

More than 20 countries

Select the category that best fits the type of your project:

New products & services: Entries in this category develop and offer essentials product and services that address needs currently unmet, Inclusive supply chains: Entries in this category implement efficient, sustainable and inclusive supply chains.

What awards or honors has the project received?

Gold Medal Award, 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by the Portuguese Government to Miguel Neiva.

Project Summary
Co-Creation Model: Tell us about your main strategic partners and how the partnership truly create value. For each Partner please include its type (business/social/public), its name, a short description, its key motivation to participate in the co-creation project, and the key contributions it is making in the co-creation project. Please follow the format displayed below:

One of main characteristics of ColorADD Code is its transversality. We want all the children have access to the code, a truly integration, not only through the Viarco pencils but also this inclusion take place through publishers, educational games, national tests, etc..
Only effective use of the code across different areas allows the full integration of persons with color vision deficiency.

ColorADD social business is focused in replicating worldwide its successful cluster implementations in Portugal and internationally but Education is a strategic activity of our mission and consequently we offer the code for schools and school libraries on a pro bono basis. We want to reach as many children as possible ensuring that they are using the right pencils and tools, allowing their integration without discrimination.

The Code became an integral part of Schools Communities, an unequivocally tool at the service of Teachers and Students, objectified in a protocol signed with the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science, establishing an social responsible example to the World! The referencing of the Portuguese National Exams with the ColorADD code, is justified by the need of a huge minority inclusion.

Partner: Viarco it’s a pencils factory with more than 100 years, the company was able to re-invent it self combining ancient machines and know how.
Type of partner: business
Short description sentence: Viarco it’s a pencils factory with more than 100 years, the company was able to re-invent it self combining ancient machines and know how.
Key motivation to participate in the co-creation project: The honour to participate in a project that will include naturally 350.000.000 colour-blind people in the World of the Color, through the universal language created by Miguel Neiva
Key contributions in the co-creation project: Social responsibility, innovation, value to the product and for the consumer, social integration, a perfect example of the company strategy that’s create add value products to the market based on new knowledge and creativity.

Other Strategic Partners in Education Area:
Publishers Partners: Plátano Editora ; Sebenta Editora (Leya Group).

Impact
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact. Please specify using qualitative and quantitative data (e.g. # of indirect and direct beneficiaries); help us understand how this solution truly makes a difference.

The Social responsability, inovation, the economic and social add value. More than 220,000 pencils have been produced with ColorAdd code. Viarco is currently exporting to over 20 countries.
In terms of return on investment, just in terms of spreading in the major media. Viarco estimates a return between € 50,000 - € 100,000.

Sustainability
Funding: How is your project financial supported? [select all that apply]

Businesses.

Sustainability Plan: Has your project already reached financial sustainability? If not, what is this solutio’s plan to ensure financial sustainability? Do the main partners have enough stake to sustain the solution? If this project requires limited budget, how will other resources be secured to maintain or grow this work?

The ColorADD is a modern organization that practice social responsibility as a competitive advantage. The ColorADD objective is to achieve double bottom results, reach financial sustentability and creating social value through full integration of colorblind people, wherever color is a factor of communication, orientation or choice. ColorADD code can be implemented and used through a licence acquisition, licenses fees are adjusted to the partners’ corporate dimension, assuring an affordable cost for everyone.
The Code include without discrimination and the users and all the people with difficulty in identification the colors, don´t have to pay for the use of the code, this cost is supported by all the companies or organizations with social responsibility

Team
Founding Story: Share a story about the "Aha!" moment that led the Partners to get started and/or to see the potential for this to succeed.

There are many "Aha!" moments in this process. The first "Aha!" was the innovative idea of the ColorADD code, followed by academic accreditation and recognition by people with color vision deficiency.
This new color identification system was validated in several national and international congress and Initiatives, Ensuring the Accreditation and recognition of both academic and scientific communities, along with business and social organizations players, Within different areas.
ColorADD has been an issue of great public interest to, both in the media, internet and in society, reaching audiences on a global scale.

About the Co-Creation
Barriers: What main barriers may you have encountered to co-create during the creation and implementation of the project and how did you try to overcome them?

All barriers of the co-creation Viarco/ColorADD were quickly overtaken, Viarco is a competitive and innovative company and once they understood the concept and the added value for this pencils of being able to integrate thousands (hopefully one day millions) of children with color vision deficiency.
They have changed their pakaging including the learning of the ColorADD Code. All the residual investment that was made had economic return with the increased of sales and with the social integration of the children with color vision deficiency
In General the main barries of the project is the general lack of awareness of the problems faced by colorblind.

Governance: What is the type of the relationship between the partners? (e.g. joint venture, contractual relationship, joint project...)

ColorADD code can be implemented and used through a license acquisition, licenses fees are adjusted to the partners corporate dimension, assuring an affordable cost for everyone. When we licence the Code we established a contractual relationship with our partners. Since we want that the code is for everyone we dont give any exclusivity to any company or organization.
Education is a strategic activity of our mission and consequently we offer the code for all schools and school libraries. In this case we have established partnerships with schools and universities on a pro bono basis,

Interaction model: How is the project a transformative partnership? How is the interaction transforming the partnering organizations and their employees/ leadership in terms of creating a new vision, new management practices, new skills and new organizational structures? Please provide for concrete examples

With co-criation ColorADD/Viarco now Viarco is more aware of the need of the colorblind segment.
Before implementing the code the constraints of childres with color vision deficiency were completely unknown to them. Now we are work together to try to implement the code in specifically designed pencils for the use of blind and partially sighted people.

One of the main virtues of the project is to raise public awareness to the constraints experienced by colorblind. The Colourblindness it´s not a visible condition and is often hidden by colorblind. Here lies the main advantage of code, allows integration while keeps the privacy of colorblind.

ColorADD wins with the dissemination of the code made by Viarco, which will allow us to make new partnerships in different areas and in new countries, allowing to reach the maximum of persons with color vision deficiency.

How did you find out about this competition?

Through Javier Olaguibel (Ashoka - Changemakers)