FISH.io

Alert Example
USSD Menu
USSD Menu

Inspiration

The whole idea of creating awareness on preserving fish through code is an inspiration, it makes us feel like we are actually doing something that can no only benefit humans but also aquatic life.

What it does

FISH.io is a USSD based service that fishermen or users can sign up with there mobile number to receive alerts for any possible weather hazards while they are out fishing. It caters for all users around the world with the ability for a user to select to receive his alerts in his/her native tongue. The alerts also provide information on best fishing practices in local language too.

How we built it

It was built with a web and USSD service. Running with PHP alongside a weather API that is in realtime to get forecasts for a specific area.

Challenges we ran into

We had problems with testing the actual application because we had no working short-code to test, so a simulator had to be used instead.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We where able to create a scenario of bad weather and we collected phone number of a few participants, and when that simulated weather attained a point of where an alert is relevant. It sent alerts to all the participants that had volunteered about the coming bad weather advising them not to go offshore.

What we learned

We learnt alot about best practices in fishing and learnt alot about aquacutlure and how it can help to sustain our aquatic environment.

What's next for FISH.io

We are looking at getting funding for the project, it has proved to be a useful too as advised by experts at the hackathon. We are also trying to widen the reach in terms of languages by translated more and more languages for awareness alerts in the country.