Decentralized Record System

Inspiration

The populations most impacted by disasters live in the poorest regions with fewest resources, and it may be harder to find and access their vital personal information. The aim of this proposal is to make relief operations smoother and more efficient in this regard.

What it does

It allows individuals to record important information about themselves in a format that is: 1) portable - kept on their person. 2) provide vital information without the need to identify and access remote databases 3) reduce the language barrier between displaced individuals and relief crews

The app is a working demo of features rather than production ready.

New - It allows you to generate a new QR code. It can be a service that would be widely available (e.g. clinics, surgeries and hospitals), as well as online. Update - Scan in the existing code, update details and generate a new code. This is a feature available to clinics, surgeries and hospitals Update Family - Copies the 'Family' code from the source to the destination. It will generate a new code. Read Record - Available to relief organisations.

How we built it

HTML, CSS, JS node.js as backend QRCode module - creates QR Codes Html5-qrcode module - reads QR Codes

Challenges we ran into

Deciding what personal information should be recorded / available. This is particularly true for an individual's name. Carrying around identification is open to abuse. I haven't restricted it in the demo, but in production you would probably restrict reading the 'name', 'family' fields to relief organisations, and restrict access to the 'Read Record' function to when a disaster occurs. You could also remove the 'name' field altogether - individuals know their own name, but an unconscious person cannot respond to queries.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

It is quick and simple to use. The Family Code - where a family unit has been split up it allows a way to reunite individuals with limited information.

What we learned

What's next for Decentralized Record System

If the proposal is taken up there are a number of challenges: 1) Ensuring the system is in place for widespread use. 2) Educating the population, the clinics and the relief organisations on how to use. 3) Develop a casing to hold the code - it should protect the code but also allow it to be held indefinitely on the individual's person, like military dog tags. Ideas include a locket or key chain.

Built With

• css
• html
• html5-qrcode
• javascript
• node.js
• qrcode