Oxe Oxe Oxe - Space Apps Challenge

How We Addressed This Challenge

Our project is perfectly aligned with the challenge 12 proposal ( An Integrated Assessment), once by creating a multiplatform that brings together different data about Covid-19. We provide a minimalist background of elements for analysis and understanding of socioeconomic questions.

How We Developed This Project

CONCEPTION OF THE IDEA

Thinking about the socioeconomic consequences and the big number of people (not only from Brazil, but also from all over the world) that lost their jobs during these difficult times of Pandemic, our team strove to prototype a multiplatform that could show up to supply exactly this gap: combine the range of information that NASA, Government Agencies, Educational Research and Extension Institutions provide to look for ways and insights on how to go about mitigating the effects of the crisis.

To act on the project, our team started by collecting local employability data, national bank interest rates, real values of minimum wage, purchasing power and demographic density - in addition to the rates of death and infection by the virus. After that documental junction and strong research, the team moved to the next step: where we could link all this information in order to reach all of types of possible publics that could be interested about the theme, as well as direct Government institutions in their public policies.

It was then that we realized that the best way out of this problem was clear. We would need something visual that could be accessed by anyone anywhere in the world. A way to make it easy not only to target workers who have lost their jobs, but also to help young researchers by providing an extensive and feedback database in a unified and easily accessible way.

The app would appear exactly for that: our “Data to Us” (DTU). With it, several segments of society would be strongly fed, not only with information and data from the platform we created, but also from a place that opens space to ensure intercommunication between the most diverse people with the most diverse interests. From a government official who wants to analyze which locations in his state have suffered the most from the Pandemic's economic damage to focus on overcoming public activities, to journalists and researchers who need to base their insights.

In addition, a website was also created with the help of the “Porkbun” platform - which allowed us greater agility to complete all sprints within 48 hours. While a team worked on the website and another on the Mobile application, the other part of the team worked to gather data and treat it visually, having at the end built a Dashboard (in Excel - using Visual Basic or VBA ) with Brazilian data that, later on, would be from all over America and, in the future, from all over the world.

And that was when the first difficulties arose. How to find the data simply and quickly? NASA, as well as the partner companies, supplied several gaps that we have of this information. But, as much as the economic, social, environmental, contagion, etc. information was of high quality, it was still diffused in several places: what instigated us and showed us that unifying this data was really the north we were looking for to democratize information.

Another problem that took us out of the comfort zone several times was how to think of a channel that would be simple to access for both children and young people and for the more technical audience. And then we developed the design that can be easily viewed in our presentation video (pitch).

The idea is that these mechanisms and platforms that provide a very fluid and modern visual presentation, can provide government agencies with the guidelines that are very necessary to get through Pandemic. As well as making available a series of Integrated Data from the most diverse sources of high credibility to think about directions that can facilitate or, at least, mitigate the problems generated by this World Humanitarian Crisis.

The dashboard and infographic can be found by accessing the Drive link