Résorption-bidonvilles, the digital platform to accelerate slum upgrading and integration in France

Publications Bank of innovations

Résorption-bidonvilles, the digital platform to accelerate slum upgrading and integration in France

Résorption-bidonvilles, Dihal (Interministerial Delegation of Acommodation and Access to Housing)

Information, exchange and management platform promoted by the French government to effectively accelerate the improvement and integration of slums, known in French as bidonvilles. Through this tool, citizens can report on the situation in these neighbourhoods, administrations can follow the progress of the actions being carried out and associations can collaborate in improving the living conditions of their inhabitants. 


This online platform –which is simple, agile and adaptable to the needs of each user– was born out of the realisation that in recent decades, in France, slums have reappeared, where precarious people live in housing that does not meet hygiene and sanitation standards and where basic services (access to water, access to sanitary facilities, waste disposal, etc.) are largely absent. There are currently more than 300 slums in the French Metropolitan Area, where more than 16,000 people live. The social marginalisation of the population living there is alarming: lack of schooling, non-participation in the labour market, neglect and discrimination of all kinds, among others.

The platform aims to transform public action and create a collaborative dynamic, connecting various actors –public administrations involved, landowners, associations that intervene with the inhabitants– that can help to improve precarious neighbourhoods, both at the level of decision-making and implementation. Access to the platform is open, but requests are validated by local administrators. Moreover, actors who have access to the platform can only consult information and report on interventions concerning the territory in which they are registered. Only users registered at the national level –ministries, central administrations or national associative partners– can consult all the data.

However, it is a tool with a global approach that combines social integration, respect for public order and the prevention of resettlement. In this sense, the platform makes the situation of the inhabitants of the bidonvilles visible –although no personal data is ever shared– and strengthens the power of action of each actor on the ground. It also makes it possible to draw up action plans and interventions, facilitate coordination between actors and measure and promote the results of the actions carried out.

Gavius, a virtual assistant for the processing of social assistance applications

Publications Bank of innovations

Gavius, a virtual assistant for the processing of social assistance applications

Gavà City Council

Intelligent assistant that provides information to citizens about the social assistances available to them, and at the same time facilitates its processing in a convenient, fast and simple way. It is based on a user-friendly application, which allows digital identification through biometric recognition, and automates the process of applying for aid and subsequent collection.

The Gavius project aims to contribute to moving towards more proactive and innovative social services, adapting technologies to the needs of individuals and social professionals. The assistant is accessible both to potential beneficiaries who identify themselves in the application, as well as to social services and citizen care professionals, for whom it provides support when granting and processing social assistance.


Gavius is an example of joint work between companies, citizens, administration and research centers. Thanks to a model based on machine learning, the application is able to adapt to the casuistry of each person and simplify and streamline the bureaucratic processes of the social services of local administrations.

JUS-APP, portable technology solution for municipal social workers

Publications Bank of innovations

JUS-APP, portable technology solution for municipal social workers

Hamburg City Council

Mobile application for municipal social workers of the Hamburg City Council (Germany) that allows them to automatically perform administrative tasks and access data of the persons served while they are at the person’s home, fulfilling all legal requirements of the municipal administration, including forms and checklists.

The application is connected to the municipal system JUS-IT in real time, which has different functionalities to simplify daily administrative tasks and make your work more attractive. Among others, it includes the automated management of alimony and social benefits, saving time for social workers and making their work more efficient. In addition, it is connected to other specialized procedures, such as police reports, providing fast, networked, results-oriented management.

The application, based on Cúram Software, also allows capturing details of meetings, such as audio or video recording of user interviews or home visits, and automated pre-filling of forms.

Konekta2, intelligent sensorization of homes for the elderly

Publications Bank of innovations

Konekta2, intelligent sensorization of homes for the elderly

Fuenlabrada City Council

A virtual assistant for the elderly that is able to detect changes in movements and routines at home to alert in the event of an incident.

The program is aimed at elderly people with cognitive impairment who live alone. It is a pilot project for which 30 people have been selected, with the intention of being extended to other users once the pilot phase is completed.

Through sensors placed on doors, household appliances or corridors, changes in these can be detected. First, an analysis of each person’s routines is carried out to detect anomalies and check the elderly person’s condition. By this way, if a door is opened at dawn, or the front door is not opened all day (indicating that the person has not left the house), it can be detected and the people nearby can be alerted (every time there is a change, a message is sent to the next contact person). The tool has a voice-controlled virtual assistant, a sensor for opening the front door and the refrigerator, and motion sensors that can be placed in different areas of the house.

The assistant also alerts the emergency services in the event of an accident, since it works as a complement to the help button or tele-alarm that users have at home. In addition, users can call for help using only their voice.

The pilot project makes it possible to anticipate cases of risk, avoiding emergency situations thanks to preventive work. It is a tool that helps the elderly to spend more of their lives at home safely.

Crisis text line, suicide prevention through artificial intelligence

Publications Bank of innovations

Crisis text line, suicide prevention through artificial intelligence

Crisis Text Line

Suicide prevention hotline which, in addition to offering accompaniment, emotional support and home interventions to thousands of people going through difficult situations, has an algorithm that allows the service’s volunteers to identify which people are at high risk of suicide and therefore need more urgent intervention.

The service works in such a way that the person in crisis sends a message saying “HOME” to the number 741741, and a specialised volunteer responds quickly and in real time. The service goes out of its way to help people in times of distress or crisis by listening to them, reassuring them, and offering suggestions for overcoming their difficulties.

As a service that receives thousands of requests, deciding who to help first in times of floods of messages can be a life-or-death decision. That’s why Crisis Text Line uses an algorithm to identify people at high risk of suicide and to be able to intervene as quickly as possible in these cases.

Using machine learning, the artificial intelligence algorithm analyses the words and emojis that may indicate that a person is at high risk of suicidal ideation or self-harm. The system developed is based on the analysis of 30 million messages that the service has exchanged with users in recent years, and is thus able to position as an emergency those conversations with high-risk patterns that need to be attended to more urgently. As a result, 94% of people at serious and imminent risk of suicide receive an intervention in less than 5 minutes.

In addition, the data collected provides the service with very relevant information about the mental health of the clients. For example, it has concluded that Wednesday is the most anxiety provoking day of the week, and that self-harm crises occur mainly in the early hours of the morning.

FIN(DA)WAY, an app for the reception and integration of refugees and asylum-seekers

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FIN(DA)WAY, an app for the reception and integration of refugees and asylum-seekers

Préfecture de Var

App aimed at guiding and facilitating the integration of refugees and asylum seekers, addressing their demands and needs and helping them to achieve a quick and autonomous adaptation in the host community.

FIN(DA)WAY provides access to information on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, while helping them find resources related to training and employment. After co-creation and testing sessions with more than 60 people, the main contents and information included in the digital application are the following: help in finding places to stay or eat, information on transportation and documentation, facilities for learning French, the possibility of storing each person’s documentation within the application, and a contact book with their location. In addition, social professionals can also have access to communicate and interact with users.

The objective of FIN(DA)WAY is that refugees and asylum seekers can access the tool during the process of the first reception, in order to achieve autonomy from the first moment and speed up their integration into the country. In addition, it is an easy-to-use application, free of charge, with offline access and available in six languages (French, Pashto, English, Arabic, Russian and Spanish).

It is a service that offers immediate and personalized information and is subject to change, adapting to new demands, contents and services.

Primero, a digital platform for the protection of children in migratory contexts

Publications Bank of innovations

Primero, a digital platform for the protection of children in migratory contexts

UNICEF

Open source software platform that helps social services, humanitarian and development workers manage data related to child protection through tools that facilitate case management, incident tracking, migrant child tracing and family reunification.

The platform collects and manages data on children encountered in emergency migration contexts, and combines proven tools, global best practices and the latest open source technology to offer social service and humanitarian protection workers an easy-to-use and scalable solution to their data management challenges.

Primero enables its users to document events and violations to provide protection programs with up-to-date information on risk factors and patterns of violations. At the same time, child victims of violence can be linked to the services they need and prevention measures can be implemented to mitigate future risks. The platform’s powerful analytics and reporting tools ensure that the data is actionable.

Primero offers intuitive digital forms and clear workflows to help document case management processes, from identification and registration, to assessment, case planning, referrals and transfers, and case closure. With robust monitoring capabilities including email notifications for certain processes.

The platform uses sophisticated matching technology to match follow-up requests made by caregivers with the records of children registered as separated or unaccompanied. Matching criteria can be configured to meet the needs of the context. These functions are supported by a comprehensive case management module to ensure that children receive appropriate care.

Primero is a progressive web application (PWA) and leverages the latest technology to combine the best of web and mobile apps. The web app works across all browsers, regardless of operating system and on any device (mobile, tablet, laptop). It requires no previous user experience and can also be used offline, so that social workers can manage their work from anywhere, wherever they are. At the same time it offers the security and efficiency of digital case management in low connectivity configurations.

myCarenet, community support network for people with dependency

Publications Bank of innovations

myCarenet, community support network for people with dependency

myCarenet

Image from myCarenet.

App that allows the person with some kind of dependency or their reference relative to weave and co-create their own support network in their home and their usual environment.

This tool allows maintaining and increasing meaningful social relationships (family, friends, neighbours, etc.) from an inclusive and community point of view, and at the same time prevents an eventual feeling of unwanted loneliness.

The person can contact and contract professional social and health care services on demand, or contact and receive community support for activities of daily living. In this way, myCarenet makes it possible to share the burden of care, lightening the load of the main caregiver.

In addition, both people with dependency and their support (family, community or professional) can access continuous and personalized training that promotes self-care and enables support persons to carry out a quality social and care task.

On the other hand, within the values of the circular economy, myCarenet promotes dignified and regulated work for people with difficulties in finding work and who, with a correct training itinerary, can find employment stability in the social and healthcare sector.

myCarenet

Reconnect, a professional app to ensure the continuity of social insertion pathways

Publications Bank of innovations

Reconnect, a professional app to ensure the continuity of social insertion pathways

Groupe SOS

Image from Reconnect webpage.

Work app for social professionals, which gives them all the information they need to support users: check their history, update their status, record meeting reports, schedule reminders for upcoming events, find documents and contacts useful, etc. It also allows you to inform team members of the situation of a person being cared for. And, in the event of a job replacement, the new professional can quickly get an overview of the ongoing procedures and the next steps to take in relation to each of the users.

In addition, it allows you to follow in real time the number of places available in services, accommodation and activities, and find the people who need them; and automatically analyze data statistics related to the people being cared for and assessing the impact of social intervention.

The ergonomics of the application have been specially worked with social professionals and third sector entities so that the management is very simple and allows the professionals to concentrate on accompanying the people being cared for. Co-design with third sector entities also allows you to provide solutions tailored to the specifics of the sector’s programs and services. And, in addition, the configuration of the system allows to satisfy the specific operational needs of each social entity.

Reconnect

IntermediaJOB, intelligent job portal with a non-discriminatory algorithm

Publications Bank of innovations

IntermediaJOB, intelligent job portal with a non-discriminatory algorithm

Intermedia

Image from the Intermedia website.

Digital platform for the selection of professional profiles, especially aimed at people with vulnerabilities, which differs from other portals in the fact that it is able to make an intelligent matching of skills between job offers and candidates, and does not discriminate based on learned patterns.

This is a paradigm shift since, instead of working like other recruitment platforms that only take into account the candidate’s training and work experience as reflected in a CV, IntermediaJOB also values the rest of the learning that the candidate has acquired throughout his life, both in the training and professional and personal fields. This makes the match between the applicant and the company much more reliable than with other portals.

This tool is only possible thanks to innovation, which is why it is awaiting the incorporation of machine learning, a technology that would improve the reliability of the skills match, as well as big data to take advantage of successful experiences, or the use of bots to make technology more accessible to people.

What has already been implemented are the algorithms used by IntermediaJOB. The platform excludes all those better-positioned candidates who have more knowledge than necessary in a workplace, as well as those that value people of one gender more than another, for the simple fact that they follow learned patterns.

Beyond being just a platform where job offers can be posted, it also allows students to find their university internships.

IntermediaJob