How software developers helped end the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone | Hacker News Reader

How software developers helped end the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone

theguardian.com

76 pointsdanso19 comments

I think society has grown accustomed to rolling its eyes upon hearing software/web developers boldly say, "Let's save (i.e. disrupt) the world with a full-stack responsively designed Web/iPhone app"...which is what I had thought this linkbaity-sounding headline was guilty of...but I'm all for the idea of programmers saving the world by focusing on logistics...God, how great things would be if talented programmers could be drawn into high-visibility projects, but to apply their engineering in solving the mundane, unsexy kinds of things that computers are best at alleviating -- and be appreciated for it.

A lot of well-meaning hackathons I've read about that tackle problems such as world health/hunger crisises usually look at how they can better disseminate vital information, such as where the nearest shelters/hospitals are, etc., which is usually done in a beautifully designed site/app. But I suspect that's of limited use to those in the impacted zones, not because they lack phones/computers (though...that's not a bad assumption)...but because an app/site is probably not much better than a printed poster...and the well-meaning developers lack access to information and real-time data that is essential for adding value to a digital versus paper product.

But focusing on payroll? I know the adage, "an army marches on its stomach" is centuries old (and similarly, the less old adage "Amateurs talk about tactics, but professionals study logistics")...but I don't think I would have ever zeroed on that as a pain point that was both potentially fatal to the greater mission and one in which software developers could easily tackle...and I wonder how such an insight could've been reached by the head developers if they were either working remotely, or relying on a non-programming administrator to convey the medical staffs' needs?

A post-mortem on this would be great :)

The article mentions that they heavily relied on open source software. Ever developer that contributes to open source enabled their success directly or indirectly. It's worth pondering.

(Mostly) Python baby! OpenERP and Dedupe, along with OpenBR and OpenCV.

http://idtlabs.sl/how-open-source-software-helped-end-ebola-... http://idtlabs.sl/idt-labs-providing-tech-solutions-for-ebol...

Python is in turn built on C, and likely a bunch of GNU stuff...

For people looking for it, OpenERP is now called Odoo: https://www.odoo.com/

We've been doing projects based on it for the past few years, and it's pretty good as a platform, despite a few shortcomings. But the best part is using PostgreSQL as the data store!

Is there any good introduction to using / working with it? I tried to check it out once, a year or two ago, and I couldn't figure out how to bite it.

If you just want to try it out, I recommend the online demo[1], plus the official user documentation[2]. If you want to develop modules on top of it, there's technical documentation[3], which also explains how to install it locally.

A tip: visit the Settings menu, and then on the Implementation widget, you have a few step-by-step wizards for setting up the database.

There also two PacktPub books, one for functional learning[4], and another for development[5], but although the latter was written by a colleague, I've never read either, as they came too late :)

[1] https://demo.odoo.com/

[2] https://www.odoo.com/documentation/user/9.0/

[3] https://www.odoo.com/documentation/9.0/index.html

[4] https://www.packtpub.com/big-data-and-business-intelligence/...

[5] https://www.packtpub.com/big-data-and-business-intelligence/...

Thanks a lot! I'll check it out again!

No problem. Feel free to email me at hn@andreparames.com if you have any questions or problems, I can't say I have all the answers, but I might be able to help :)

You know what works really well for distributing information about the status of shelters etc? Facebook and WhatsApp.

The talk itself (not a final processed version, just a "dump" of the live cast)

https://streaming.media.ccc.de/32c3/relive/7561/

Thanks for the link, this is one of the best talks I've watched in a long time.

EDIT: WTH, some random woman out the audience accuses his talk of been racist, this is a guy who travelled into an ebola zone, used local programmers, helped bootstrap an ERP/SMS payments system during one of the worst ebole outbreaks in history in less than 6 weeks and is continuing to work with the locals to ensure the system stays in place...and she accuses him of been racist, ffs!

Maybe when Tan was mentioning the challenges, like literacy rate, she interpreted his blunt description as implying that it is this way because of the race of the people who live there?

That's a hell of a reach though and makes her even stranger.

He didn't say anything over than the facts about the literacy rate, since when are pure facts without connotation racist.

I hope it wasn't that.

and for logistic -Crowdsourced Open Map Data

"2014 West Africa Ebola Response is an activation of the Humanitarian OSM Team to provide base-map data to assist the response to this disease outbreak."

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/2014_West_Africa_Ebola_Re... ( see "Media coverage" )

Donate to HOT( Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team) today : https://donate.hotosm.org/

"The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team [HOT] applies the principles of open source and open data sharing for humanitarian response and economic development."

Projects: https://hotosm.org/projects/ongoing

I'm imagining sorting "kilograms of bank notes" in Sierra Leone during the midst of the Ebola outbreak. Yikes.

I hope they had some good physical security (but I suspect that they didn't...)

If they were freshly printed from the central bank it would be more palatable...

Or, at the very least, more barrable.

As a Sierra Leonian (by Birth and upbringing...otherwise US national), I'd like to think Sierra Leone is not as scary as you think :)...really, it's all relative. To someone only familiar with a western sense of security, a place such as Sierra Leone is definitely very scary.

In a situation like that they really just need to recruit a few "Good men" (friends, cousins...etc) and they should be safe.

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