Short description
This is a really interesting app that brings the less known world into your mobile device. Many of the products around us have a darker side that the PR people do not want us to be aware of and mainstream media only report about every now and again.
The fact that slavery/human right abuses is an integrated part of all low-price manufacturing companies (and quite a lot of the high-price/famous brands as well) business strategy is something that this app can help bring into our everyday lives.
To create these kind of short-cuts in the global economy is a great example of the transformative potential that mobile applications can have.
This is how the creators describe the app:
We believe in using the free market to free people. At its core, the Slavery Footprint website allows consumers to visualize how their consumption habits are connected to modern-day slavery. Through our "Free World" mobile app and online action center, we provide consumers an outlet to voice their demand for things made without slave labor. We are collectively raising our voices so we can work with companies to manufacture our stuff "Made in a Free World."
Based in Oakland, California, the Slavery Footprint team works to engage individuals, groups, and businesses to build awareness for and create deployable action against forced labor, human trafficking, and modern day slavery. In addition to creating and developing the online tools, the organization is also engaged in off-line community education and mobilization programs.
Read more about the app here: http://slaveryfootprint.org/
The best with the app/supporting initiative
+ Available for both Android and iPhone: http://slaveryfootprint.org/about/#getapp
+ Strong focus on transparency in the value chain
+ Encourage collaboration
+ Great demonstration of how reports with complicated data can be translated to information that is possible to communicate in a personal way to people. http://slaveryfootprint.org/about/#methodology.
+ Great follow-up where emails are sent out with reminders of the results from the app.
The weak parts of the app/supporting initiative
- Almost an exclusive focus on the negative side in a way that feels a little like 1970’s
- Calculations do not provide any positive feedback for fair trade choices.
- Calculations do not provide any feedback for global equity choices (such as reducing meat consumption).
- The calculation are on the verge of being to simplistic (see the best with the app) http://slaveryfootprint.org/about/#methodology
What could accelerate this app/supporting initiative into a world changer?
➢ Better links with information about the companies that are the worst.
➢ Better information about the possibilities with fair-trade.
➢ Ways that the used can take action.
➢ Use geo-location to show where around the world different people take action (if nothing else just asking companies what they are doing about the slavery around the world).
Delivery
How direct is the delivery of the result the app tries to achieve
- Direct
- Indirect
- Inspirational
- Long shot
Comments
By providing information it can hopefully inspire people to engage against slavery.
Transformative approach
How transformative is it
- A new world
- A major shift
- A bit of a shake-up
- A gentle rocking
Comments
Making people aware of their social footprint by bringing it into pockets is a major shift. Once the voices of those affected can be brought to us in real-time we will live in a new world where people can not pretend to not see anymore.
How much does it encourage collaborations
How much are new networks supported
- Strong support for global networks?
- Currently encourages new forms of collaboration
- Provides interesting opportunities in the future
- Restricted to a small (expert) group
Comments
Today it is not much done to promote collaboration. It is a weakness and something that updates or new apps hopefully can address, not the least collaboration between customers in the rich parts of the world and the activists in the parts where slavery exists.
What synergies can be delivered
How well does it also solve other problems/generate solutions
- It solves everything
- Several important challenges
- Some important challenges
- Only one challenge
Comments
Identifying challenges in the value chain that we hide in the global economy is linked to very many of the challenges today.
Nine billion contribution
How global is it? Is it helping/will it help everyone on the planet
- Instant global equality
- Almost global
- Getting (incrementally) global
- Not applicable
Comments
Very encouraging that apps exist that focus on those on the planet that have no voice in most discussions. Too few do this as they are commercial and only focus on making money. What is particularly great is that this app can help make the ICT value chain that the mobile apps depend on more sustainable.
Building on current trends
How well does it use current trends
- The app is setting new trends by itself
- Building on multiple trends
- Effectively building on one trend
- Not really building on any major trend
Comments
The interest in understanding your impact in ways that can be measured is growing fast and these apps brings some really relevant aspects into an area filled with narcissism in most cases.
Timeframe
How fast can it deliver
- It's already happening
- In the coming weeks
- In a year or so
- In a distant future (hopefully)
Comments
The current version is really simple and is more of a teaser than a real app, but as a teaser it is really great.
Transparency
Does it support transformative transparency
- Brave new transparency
- Transparency that is innovative (never seen before)
- Increased transparency, but nothing innovative
- No increase in transparency
Comments
Using existing data in a smart way that allow for people to bring it out into the reality is great but it is more the area they focus on than the way the app is doing it that is transformative.