In a stunning attempt to fill a crucial void in disaster response, ConnectHear, a Pakistani tech startup, is working on an innovative mobile application that will support Pakistan’s hearing-impaired community in the time of natural disasters like floods and earthquakes. This way, more than 10 million hearing-impaired citizens would get life-saving information in emergencies.
A lifeline for the hearing-impaired in emergencies.
This also includes natural calamities; the 2022 floods in Pakistan have created more than 30 million vulnerable Pakistanis, in terms of communication. It is surely a reality that the hearing-impaired people have always been forbidden from emergency alerts and remained away from crucial information. The mission of ConnectHear has tackled this by bringing a trustworthy, accessible, and safe alert system for the hearing-impaired persons.
This revolutionary app does not only bring alert functionalities but functionality even in the poor connectivity areas. For this, ConnectHear collaborated with leading telecom operators, namely PTCL and Ufone, enabling all the critical alerts to the user without any data charge.
How the App Works
This app offers many functionalities in the light of special needs of the deaf community:
1. Video Call Sign Language Interpreter:
Video calls may be availed of for the sign language interpreters in the application. This way, everyone will get to access information that might salvage their lives during emergency conditions in the form of something they could understand.
2. Pre-recorded Signs:
The humanitarian organizations can record early warnings for disaster through videos in sign language and forward the same to all the users through the network of Ufone.
3. Offline Capability:
It has been so designed that the application becomes quite smooth and flawless, even when the internet connectivity is low. No one should be left behind; not even those in the most remote areas.
HANDS Pakistan, GSMA, leading telecom companies, and many organizations collaborate to back ConnectHear’s project. Such collaborations will push further the impact of the application by spreading it throughout marginalized communities.
Discussing the project, ConnectHear Co-Founder Arhum Ishtiaq said their work is, in a sense, collaborative by nature. He said it was all about developing such information about disasters with their partners who could further share it on and bring it to everyone’s attention who needed them.
Reaching One Without A Smartphone
Some of the challenges that the organization will face include accessibility issues since some people may have minimal digital literacy while others do not even possess smartphones. The organization, to this end, will seek training from HANDS Pakistan for its employees.
This trained workforce will then pass on the necessary information to all concerned, either directly or through other means, bridging the digital divide and making sure that even the most vulnerable individual is not left behind in the program.
This has not only relieved the immediate troubles caused by natural disasters but also enabled a large part of Pakistan’s population to take advantage of connectivity and reach out in several ways. The ConnectHear app is a testimony to the way technology can impact changing lives and building a better future for disadvantaged groups.
1. What does the ConnectHear’s app do?
The natural disaster emergency alerts application gives the hearing-impaired person access to real-time communication while in a natural disaster condition, which enables them to have all the important information in the sign language.
2. How has the app been designed when the internet connection is also too poor?
Designed to be used offline, so now people in remote areas also receive the alert and information it requires.
3. Will the app be available without cost?
Thanks to PTCL and Ufone agreements, there will be no data charges for its use by the users.
4. But what about those without a smartphone?
ConnectHear will collaborate with HANDS Pakistan to train personnel who could bring the emergency information to those without a smartphone face-to-face or through alternate means.
5. What are the key partners involved?
ConnectHear has collaborated with telecom operators like PTCL and Ufone and also other organizations like HANDS Pakistan and GSMA, so that the app may reach every nook and corner of the country.
Conclusion
ConnectHear’s disaster alert app is a gigantic leap towards inclusion and disaster preparedness in Pakistan. Using technology and strategic partnerships, the startup ensures that the hearing-impaired community does not get left behind during times of crisis.
Filling one glaring gap in emergency communication and assuring the world of a mighty role played by technology in being an enforcer towards the changeover of the marginalized, it does inspire the work done through ConnectHear, about how innovation can be used to bring social change into life.
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