Digital technology and social well-being
Author: Antara Basu
4th century BC, the incident of Draupadi’s vastraharan, imagine how differently the scene would have played out if 1091 existed. Or conjure 1945, Nazi Germany, imagine the armies of Twitter and Instagram staging an exposé and still finding the time, to retweet pictures of dogs in berets.
Clearly technology would have altered the face of history. And though it didn’t, it can and is very well transforming the present and the future. From rural development to poverty alleviation to youth empowerment, technology is dominating every domain;
- SUSTAINABLE LIVING
- Oroeco – Carbon Footprint Calculator: The app assists people to fight the climate crisis by measuring their carbon footprints through electricity consumption, transports, food and leisure activities. Additionally, it equips people with tips on how to reduce their carbon footprint to promote a more sustainable lifestyle. You can find it on Google Play Store as well.
- Sustainability Aware: This app incorporates the appealing nature of games. It has compiled a collection of educational games to educate children in the age group of 8 to 12 years about sustainable living. It imparts basic lessons such as consequences and impacts of individual actions on the environment as well as advanced sustainability concepts such as renewable energy, climate change etc.
- WORLD HUNGER
- Feedie: The feeling of annoyance when you see someone clicking pictures of food when all you really want to do is dig in might actually turn out to be a good thing. When people upload pictures, participating restaurants donate money to The Lunchbox Fund. It’s a non-profit committed to feeding children living in poverty-stricken conditions.
- Freerice: It is a free online website and app which hosts an array of multiple-choice questions. The categories for which range from English grammar, vocabulary to geography and humanities. Freerice through the World Food Programme, donates rice for every question that an individual, answers correctly. Also available on Google Store.
- RURAL AND URBAN DEVEOPMENT
- Meri Sadak: Created under the umbrella of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), this app allows citizens to contribute in the development of infrastructure. This app supports a complaint and redressal mechanism and feedback can be reported to the Nodal departments in state governments, the National Rural Roads Development Agency [NRRDA]. This further enables the citizens to track the status of their issue after the submission of feedback.
- Gocoop: An online social marketplace that is dedicated to promoting craftsmanship, artisans and handicrafts. A winner of the first national award for handlooms marketing (eCommerce) by ministry of textiles, government of India, it a global platform that connects consumers with Indian artisans. Providing sustainable and stable livelihoods for India’s artistry community.
- WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
- Women Fight Back: By focusing on problems that plagued their own communities Ansuja Madival created this app, as part of the Dharavi Diary project, which teaches underprivileged girls to code. With the aim of utilising technology to challenge the status quo. This app features a distress alarm and pre-selected emergency contact numbers in order to keep the user safe and to prevent violence.
The world today is continuously wrapping itself within digital binds and thereof the role of technology in social welfare is becoming increasingly diversified and complex. The same social networking sites designed for enhancing connectivity, today are actively advocating for global campaigns, movements and inspiring change. The use of digital technology for social wellbeing has achieved overwhelming progress. Innumerable applications and websites have proven to be indispensable tools to combat global challenges and develop a sustainable way of living and development, to facilitate the survival of our current and future generations.
SOURCES:
https://www.activesustainability.com/sustainable-life/top-10-apps-for-sustainable-living/
https://gocoop.com/pages/about-us
https://www.livingly.com/Empowering+Apps+For+Women/articles/rj07TaQtffq/Women+Fight+Back
ngosocdev.org 