ABOUT THE PROJECT
As part of Nanum Mujeres Conectadas’ call for proposals, Chaco Innova, whose objective was to promote access to and adoption of innovative solutions to reduce vulnerability and increase economic development opportunities in the Gran Chaco Americano region, Wingu proposed in 2021 the creation of a mobile platform.
Wingu’s proposal was one of the four solutions selected.
Its approach focused on providing support and technical and methodological support to implement technological tools for productive management, in order to increase development opportunities that promote the economic empowerment of communities in the Gran Chaco Americano. Chaco Innova is a call for proposals by Nanum Mujeres Conectadas with the support of WTT Ventures, Fundación Avina, Fundación Gran Chaco, Nativa, Grupo Sunu de Acción Intercultural and BID Lab. This work promoted the digital transformation and the participation of women artisans from the Gran Chaco, through various stages of co-design, development and training. Finally, it led to the development of two digital tools: an administration system with a desktop view and a web application for artisans and coordinators.
TECHNOLOGY
WHAT WE DO
WHAT WE DID IT WITH
THE INITIATIVE
NANUM connected womenIt isa meaningful connectivity initiative that promotes the role of women as agents of change in the access and adoption of disruptive solutions through rural connectivity and appliedinnovation to improve their capacities for adaptation and resilience to climate change in the development of their organizations and the productive sphere.
The purpose of this component is to connect 40 rural and indigenous communities in the Gran Chaco to the internet and reach at least 5,000 home internet connections.
TIME
[18 meses de trabajo – 1 equipo]
THE CHALLENGE
Throughout this process, we worked on the co-design and development of a solution for the production and sales management of the cooperative of women artisans of the Gran Chaco Argentino (COMAR). The co-design process took place through different instances of meetings in the territory between the craftswomen and Wingu’s Civic and Social Technology team.
Both virtual and face-to-face discovery sessions were held, involving the participation of more than 50 people.
At the same time, agreements were generated for the development, testing and feedback on the solution to be developed and final definitions on how to continue each part of the process.
This development was tailored to the needs of the producers, taking into account their social and cultural characteristics, ensuring adoption and sustainability, with the aim of being scalable to other regions and productive activities.
THE ROAD
The difficulty in connectivity experienced by the communities of the Gran Chaco Americano, in the provinces of Argentina where we work (Formosa, Chaco and Salta) and the diversity of devices available for this project became a key factor to take into account when thinking and developing the tool. In the adoption of the solution in each community, key elements were accessibility, being fundamental to adapt the tool to the native languages of the population, and to focus on the experience of the users. During the process, we understood the need to decentralize the information through multiple levels of access to the tool focused on the interest of the craftswomen, so the result of the project is the creation of two different tools/web apps.
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1. One of the web apps is an administration system. |
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2. The second tool is a web app exclusively for artisans and coordinators. |
In this way, an integral solution was proposed, which contemplates the entire process and is connected with other tools so that it can learn to become more efficient.
THE TEAM
“This system is very simple so that we can work well. It makes our work easier for the coordinators and vendors,” Juana Rodriguez, President of the Pilagá community in Campo del Cielo, Formosa.
“This application is very important for us, the artisans, the coordinators. We want to use this system because it will help us a lot,” Norma Rodriguez, president of the COMAR Association and representative of the Wichí women of Lote 8, Formosa.
“This solution allows them to work in the same way they had been doing previously, but facilitating the management of orders and administration. In this way, from Wingu we help women to enhance their economic development with technology. I am very happy to see all the growth and learning of these women, to have been part of it and to have learned from them”, Irina Walter, manager of the Chaco Innova project at Wingu.
languages adapted to the developed tool (Pilagá, Qomele’ec, Qom and Spanish).
spaces for meetings, training and activities carried out.
people of the Gran Chaco community reached.
IMPACT
The Chaco Innova platform promotes sustainable development, both socially and economically: with decolonizing design principles, it provides an accessibility model that enhances productive activities and improves the living conditions of rural communities.
Wingu’s work methodology proposes a multidimensional approach that seeks to make emerging technologies accessible and beneficial to all people, especially underrepresented groups. In this case, the main achievement was to find solutions that respect, value and improve the existing processes in the Gran Chaco Americano producing communities.
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This web application can be used on multiple devices.
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It integrates the different production levels, centralizes information, manages and facilitates coordination in a clear way.
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It is adapted to the languages of the communities, i.e. of the users.
What happened after developing and implementing the tool?
- We continued to accompany the communities in the post-implementation phase.
- The women artisans gradually appropriated the tool.
- The system was adopted to manage orders and the stock of handicrafts.
The most relevant screens of the project development process are shown below according to their priority. High-resolution renderings of our interface on desktop computers and mobile devices, showing functionality throughout the application.
