BootStrAPP

Inspiration

We were inspired to create BootStrAPP after learning about the challenges that individuals and communities face in underdeveloped or developing countries. Large swaths of populations in these areas, among other things, have issues accessing clean water, living wages, affordable energy, nutrition and education. We wanted to create a platform that would make it easy for people, experts, organizations with funds, and government entities to find each other and work together to address and resolve these problems.

For example, as discussed in the accompanying video, our teammate's relatives in India run a family farm. Lately, it has been very hard to provide for themselves due to low prices and less market accessibility. This app will allow them to showcase the nutrition profile of their crops to areas where there is more demand for such crops.

What it does

BootStrAPP is a communicator app that facilitates someone to bootstrap themselves out of adverse life situations by networking with individuals, SMEs, government entities, NGO's, and charities. These entities may come up with viable solutions for various problems, customized to geographic, financial and political constraints.

On one hand, it allows people to create profiles explaining their issues and constraints and on the other hand it allows people or organizations to showcase their products, skills, goals, funds, certifications and track record for solving such problems under varying circumstances.

Individuals and organizations can search for and contact each other based on their location, expertise, funds and other criteria. The app also includes a messaging system and a review system to facilitate communication and trust between all the parties.

How we built it

BootStrAPP was built using a combination of web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, as well as backend technologies like Node.js and MongoDB. We used a framework called Express.js to handle routing and data storage, and we deployed the app to a cloud hosting service like Heroku or AWS.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges we faced was creating a user-friendly interface that would be easy for specialists and users to use. We also had to find ways to ensure the quality and authenticity of the products being sold, which required developing a verification and certification system. Finally, we had to figure out how to monetize the app (for long term sustainability), keeping in mind the affected end parties may not have any meaningful funds available.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud to have created an app that has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of underprivileged and disenfranchised communities. We are also proud of the user interface we developed, which we believe is intuitive and easy to use.

What we learned

We learned a lot about the challenges of developing a platform that connects multiple stakeholders in a wide domain of problems highlighted by UN 17. We also gained experience working with web technologies and building a scalable backend infrastructure.

What's next for BootStrAPP

In the future, we hope to add AI to BootStrAPP, so that the App itself matches and probably generates solutions. We would also like to add a secure payment system. We also plan to continue improving the user interface and user experience based on feedback from users and entities. Finally, we will explore different fundraising and charity models, to ensure the long-term sustainability of the app.