The UN launched an agenda, by 2030, of targets (SDGs) to be met to achieve sustainable development in the world. Among these goals, there is SDG 1, which aims to combat poverty in the world. However, with the advance of the pandemic, millions of people became unemployed. In Brazil alone, more than 1.2 million Brazilians suffered from this in the first half of 2020, due to the pandemic, according to the IBGE. For government officials to decide on the actions that best minimize the negative effects on the population, it is essential that there is an effective collection of data that characterizes the profile and problems of a region. However, in Brazil, these data available are decentralized and are not recent (most recent data in Brazil, by IBGE, are from 2018). Therefore, we created an online platform to optimize this collection, where the citizens themselves provide the information and the data is updated frequently, with a view to even reaching other SDGs besides 1, such as 6 (water and sanitation) and 7 ( clean energy). In addition, the online platform is an opportunity to provide space for people to publicize their business / service and to communicate the problems that exist in their region.
At first, we observed that the current crisis caused by COVID-19 brought changes not only in the environment, but also in the population’s consumption profile. For example, the most widespread guideline to combat the disease is an persistent use of water for washing hands and sanitation. Thinking of it, a main question emerges: how do those who don’t have access to water resources and quality sanitation deal with these guidelines?
Trying to answer this question, we started to look for data and sources that would help us to develop a study about the conditions of that significant portion of the population. During the search, we faced an even more primary problem: those data are really hard to find, diffuse, decentralized and usually outdated, what, owing to the need to have them in accordance with the current scenario, it is really relevant. We also figured that these obstacles influence directly in government official’s decision-making face of the crisis.
Therefore, we decided to develop a platform (website) which collects data related to individual home’s infrastructure. In possession of the data, it generates a database that shows the situation of the communities more transparently and centrally. Furthermore, in order to increase people registering, the platform allows people to divulge their services and businesses, enabling them to improve their work in this unemployment scenario. The website also presents a home page, which contains the data acquired by users, as well as the dataset giving by agencies such as NASA and the Brazilian Health Ministry. It also presents an opportunity page, which contains the services and businesses offered, allowing the their hiring when logged in, and, last but not least, a page named “My Account” containing the possibility to update data and publicize his or her work.
Using both the dataset already available and the collected one, the website’s making is possible and it may presents itself as practical as intuitive. The initial problems of lack of information turned out to be a practical opportunity to act, leaving only programming problems which may be feasible in a longer time period. In addition, due to the structure of the website, it can request and, therefore, acquire interesting information for SDGs’s indicators, which increases the range of possibilities this website allows government officials to act in order to comply with several SDGs.
https://youtu.be/ColM8difBJM
NASA: https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/
Ministry of Health of Brazil: https://covid.saude.gov.br/