Mycitizen.net
Prague, Czech RepublicMyanmar
Year Founded:
Project Stage:
2012
Organization type:
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Start-Up
Budget:
$10,000 - $50,000
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
In Burma (Myanmar) and other countries in transition, increasing freedoms encourage citizens to become active in order to promote change. We see, for example, many new shelters for people infected with HIV. The mere existence of that disease has been downplayed for decades by the previous military junta, and even now patients and family members are stigmatized and find it hard to learn where they can get help, or if anyone in their town shares their problems and has possibly already found a solution. Useful information is theoretically available online, but relevant solutions disappear in the floods of communication and entertainment. These issues are a huge obstacle to development particularly in rural areas.
Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.
The project is currently in beta stage. It has been introduced to Burmese refugee communities in Delhi and to activists in Kalay, Chin State and Yangon in Burma (Myanmar) to a total number of over 100 participants. The full launch is planned when the mobile app is ready for use.
Financial Sustainability Plan: What is this solution’s plan to ensure financial sustainability?
During 2014 the project can cover a part of the expenses from existing support. Apart from offering the platform for free for download, we will then offer hosted deployments for a monthly fee. This is a common business model for non-profit open source software.
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Not aware of any that would offer self-hosting, the combination of web and mobile app, the easy localization to any language and similar capabilities to search for topics and location.
Founding Story
The key moment was in 2008 when a constitutional referendum was held in Myanmar. The vast majority of voters had never seen the draft constitution and this impressively demonstrated that even a free election could not possibly make any sense if people don't have access to relevant information.
At the same time when the country opened up in 2010 and foreign players praised the changes on the political level, our clients - mostly members of ethnic minorities - continued saying that the situation on the ground remained almost unaffected. The only visible impact, driven by economic interests and people's desire to end their isolation, was the spreading of smartphones.
The idea was born to utilize this development to counter the deficits.