Make a pull request to this Github repo with your work or email your code/outcomes to kate@findmyflock.com.
Problem: Currently, there are no industry authorities or name-brand journalistic outlets for refugee-related news digests.
Solution: Devise an aggregate feed or build a simple aggregator for refugee-related news (think headlines, photo, description in order of time & popularity) for supporters and industry NGOs. Use RSS or JSON (or build a scraper/crawler) to collect updated story links from a predefined set of sources.
Additional feature considerations: Rank: Collect FB likes, favorites, twitter mentions, etc. to rank links by popularity of the day; check each story/link against all predefined sources to gauge authority based on number of sources that cite link. Subscribe: Allow subscription via RSS, email digest, twitter follow, app, etc. Curate: Allow for manual removal and addition of stories and sources. Sort: Sort stories by source, popularity, time Sources: A definitive list of RSS source feeds can be identified for the group though an ability to add and delete sources (e.g. adding RSS/XML or JSON ready links) could be important.
Other possible considerations: Instead of the target audience of NGOs and refugee-industry related news, consider making it for refugees, where the sources are of interest to a refugee’s locality and nationality.
Examples (but for other topics): Techmeme, Digg, Feedly
Problem: Of the 66 Million displaced in the world, only 23M are signed-up with the UNHCR and of those 23M less than 1% will receive asylum in another country. If asylum is not a likely option for over 65M people, what other options are possible based on their profile? And of those possible options, which options are the best fit (or most likely) for a particular person who is displaced?
Solution: Create a simple form for refugees to enter information about themselves and their families. The form submits the information to a website, which then suggestions which country would be most likely to accept their relocation application.
More Background Info: Some countries including Canada and Australia have sponsorships, and slots for nationalities and profiles open and close at various times. Brazil, for example, may allow some people based on their profile to simply fly there and obtain legal status. Some applicants might be more likely to obtain various types of work visas depending on their occupational history, and others might be able to obtain education visas or scholarships. Some countries may allow payment for monthly or annual travel visas, work visas or other types of visas while other countries may attempt to attract talent with training programs targeting various profiles.
Problem: There are no significant breaks for volume, non-profits and NGOs when transferring money overseas. There are typically two types of fees involved in international transactions: Transfer Fees and Currency Conversion Fees. Combined, transactions can cost up to 10% of a transfer depending on many variables and 3rd party systems. The greatest fee is typically hidden in the proprietary Currency Conversion rate which is inflated from the fair market rate.
Solution: Devise a technological solution (blockchain?) to transfer money overseas with the lowest possible exchange rate and transfer fee.
Possible routes to explore: App with fee structures for various country-to-country relationships for popular 3rd party companies, including banks, western union, bitcoin exchanges, etc. to find lowest rates. Explore an exclusive blockchain method.
Problem: The current Humanwire Go! checkout experience is very basic.
Solution: Help redesign the site to better engage visitors and drive more sign-ups. Consider rebuilding a standalone Humanwire Go! Delivery store, or creating an app, for https://www.humanwire.org/go.
Pick on of the 10 data sciene challenges from UNHCR, http://www.unhcr.org/innovation/10-big-data-science-challenges-facing-humanitarian-organizations/.