Recently I, in a team of 6 took part in the 5th edition of the Smart India Hackathon, hosted at C.V. Raman Global University on 25-26th August. Our problem statement was to provide a service that will work in low network areas to help monitor, track and report SHG groups under the DAY-NRLM scheme.
To tackle the problem of communication in the low-network area, we thought of 3 methods, and they are:
1. Synchronization APIs
2. SMS for sending & receiving data
3. USSD
From the above 3 methods, we decided to implement 1 & 2.
The idea was to maintain 2 databases 1 for clients & servers, and maintain a local copy of the changes made in the client's devices, and push the changes as the device comes online, this solution works for low connectivity.
Coming to no-connectivity, we thought the transmit & receive data through SMS when no internet connection is available but mobile connectivity is possible, this feature was somewhat implemented but we faced issues with inbound messaging through Twilio, so we moved to a different approach to send & receive data using SMS only.
By the end of the hackathon, we were able to implement a service which could upload a photo in a low network area and also can send SMS when there is some data changes on the local device. Photo upload was considered as an option for better tracking of work of SHGs.
We didn't win the hackathon, but the experience was great and learned many things during this event. Hope to participate in many hackathons in near future.
To tackle the problem of communication in the low-network area, we thought of 3 methods, and they are:
1. Synchronization APIs
2. SMS for sending & receiving data
3. USSD
From the above 3 methods, we decided to implement 1 & 2.
The idea was to maintain 2 databases 1 for clients & servers, and maintain a local copy of the changes made in the client's devices, and push the changes as the device comes online, this solution works for low connectivity.
Coming to no-connectivity, we thought the transmit & receive data through SMS when no internet connection is available but mobile connectivity is possible, this feature was somewhat implemented but we faced issues with inbound messaging through Twilio, so we moved to a different approach to send & receive data using SMS only.
By the end of the hackathon, we were able to implement a service which could upload a photo in a low network area and also can send SMS when there is some data changes on the local device. Photo upload was considered as an option for better tracking of work of SHGs.
We didn't win the hackathon, but the experience was great and learned many things during this event. Hope to participate in many hackathons in near future.
