Build Change makes housing more resilient to major weather events

As disasters increase in size and frequency, the Build Change team helps those disproportionately affected by housing collapse.

Explore the open source project ISAC-SIMO based on this solution and get involved now.

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At a glance

Hurricanes and typhoons are growing stronger as a result of climate change, and together with earthquakes they continue to disproportionately impact people living in emerging nations where substandard housing is exceptionally commonplace. Build Change, through their open source project, ISAC-SIMO, offers a mobile app that can help more people detect construction issues before they become life-threatening.

Deployment location

Nepal, Colombia

Technologies used

IBM Watson
Django
Python
PostgreSQL
React Native

State of readiness

In testing

The Build Change solution story

In 2018, an international group of developers and problem solvers from Kathmandu, Nepal, and Bogotá, Colombia, working at Build Change made the decision to get involved in the Call for Code Global Challenge. Their solution was a machine learning mobile app with a main objective to improve the safety conditions of houses and reduce human and economic loss after the occurrence of a disaster like an earthquake. The application — Post-Disaster Rapid Response Retrofit: PD3R — won second place in the inaugural competition.

“Our hope is that this tool can truly become an intelligent aid for quality assurance during construction, and help promote safe construction practices around the world. I can’t wait to see how the open source community will bring our dream to scale.”

Lakshyana K.C.

With support from the Call for Code initiative, the Build Change developers evolved their PD3R solution into the open source project ISAC-SIMO, backed by IBM, the Linux Foundation, and an ecosystem of tech for good organizations. ISAC-SIMO is being tested in communities in Nepal and Colombia – countries where the risk of injury from substandard construction is high due to the frequency of earthquakes, hurricanes, and other disasters.

Looking ahead, the Build Change team is calling on the open source community to advance their solution further, as the technology has broad applicability that can service construction projects of all kinds. The ISAC-SIMO project provides an exceptional framework for developers and problem solvers to build on – increasing the volume of construction quality checks for areas where this vital, life-changing service might be missing.

What’s new

Learn more about the progress of Build Change

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Call for Code app makes homes safer and more resilient with AI

Get involved in open source projects now

Whether you are a technologist interested in further developing the ISAC-SIMO solution or an organization interested in helping deploy this technology, there are multiple ways you can get involved.

Join the community to get invited to Slack. Once you are granted access, join the #ISAC-SIMO.

Check out tech for good open source projects you can get involved with today.