Safetipin is honored to have won the mBillionth Awards South Asia 2014, in the category of e-women and children. About the mBillionth Awards 2014 mBillionth Award is a dedicated platform to explore the latent potential of mobile & telecom sector across 8 countries in South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The core objective of the mBillionth Award is not only to recognize and honor the best practices but also to nurture, scale up and stimulate development of innovative mobile ideas, applications and services. In 2014, mBilionth expects to see the tremendous growth in recognizing mobile innovations to bridge the Social and Developmental gaps in the communities by creating a conducive-exchange platform for developers, content creators, telecos and device players.  e-Women and Children Women and children are always the majority of the society and they both are the infrastructure, present and future of the comprehensive and balanced society. Yet women and children are most vulnerable. Digital media and device like telecom and mobile have become tools of empowerment for the women and this in many ways also overcome insecurities around children. This category will look into various such initiatives which directly targets the lives, works, needs and socio-economic well being of women and children. This category is also meant to encourage promotion of handheld devices sich as mobile to have empowering applications and content directly benefiting the women and children.

by Nandita Das Last year has been a watershed in the attention that violence against women has drawn. While largely an urban phenomenon, the uproars have brought to the fore what many of us women have experienced first-hand. The threat we face is all too common —a perpetrator can be lurking anywhere, anytime. A scary thought for every woman, in any place and of any age! And, unfortunately, the burden of ensuring the safety continues to remain primarily on women! There is an alarming level of ‘normalization' of violence that threatens the public spaces. We often ensure our own personal safety by not visiting certain places, staying indoors after dark, wearing an ‘appropriate' dress and by carrying defensive ‘weapons' like pepper spray or safety pins. According to a survey conducted in Delhi by the NGO Jagori, two out of every three women faced incidents of sexual harassment two to five times in the past year. But what has changed after December 16, 2012 is the 200 per cent rise in reporting cases of sexual harassment in the city. This is perhaps more reflective of breaking of the silence than an actual rise in crime. And for a change, the public outrage has not only been about convicting the culprits, but also been about preventing such incidents. Cyber connectivity has helped in bringing together the many unprecedented protests, and the technology is also offering solutions. I was recently invited by Kalpana Viswanath, a researcher who has been working on making cities safer for women for over 20 years, and her husband, Ashish Basu, an entrepreneur with interests in education and mobile technologies, for the launch of a mobile safety app called the Safetipin (www.safetipin.com). This free safety app was envisioned to build safer cities through neighborhood and community involvement. It allows users to record, with just a click, whether they feel safe or unsafe in a public space and why. This then provides a map with user- generated data, which shows us how safe or unsafe a city is. Users can also record instances of harassment and security hazards, like broken lights and open sewers, and useful information such as the closest 24-hour pharmacy or a police station. Some might argue that such free safety apps are for smartphones, owned by the privileged few. But I would contend that let this privilege be put to use and let those who have the button a click away, partake in making the city safer. Moreover, in a country with more than 600 million cellphones, such technologies are bound to become even more widely available. And, in any case, the answer lies in multiplicity of solutions. Recent Delhi elections have made one thing clear: people's participation cannot be undermined. So, all this app needs is that. The minute a woman clicks the button to do a safety audit, she will no longer feel alone in this fight for safer spaces, as she would have transitioned from me to we, to become part of a larger community. She might even feel more empowered because she is consciously working towards prevention and turning into a potential activist from a potential victim. And, when a man stands on a street or a bylane, secluded or crowded, and decides to assess the safety quotient of that place, he, too, becomes part of the solution. He has marked his protest against violence and voted for a safer city for all, especially women. Yet, even while we strive to achieve the basic safety of women, our sight should not be set so low. It is a matter of right to ask for a world free from violence and fear, and for places we inhabit to be more equitable, democratic, and inclusive. And, for all the advantages technology offers, we cannot forget to address the patriarchal mindset, the root cause of many maladies. When Virginia Woolf said, “The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages,” I wonder if she was thinking of Indian men and women! Either way, the fight for a safer city has to be fought together, by all.

Thursday, November 14, 2013: SAFETIPIN, a new mobile app that crowd-sources and maps information about safety in neighbourhood and cities was launched today. Nandita Das, actor and activist, who was in town for the launch, said that "We cannot expect change unless we are willing to be part of it. And finally we have an opportunity with SafetiPin." Speaking at the launch, co- founder Ashish Basu said: “SafetiPin gives people a way to engage with their neighbourhood and communities around important issues. People can interact on safety and infrastructure, comment on posts and pictures. The information that SafetiPin gathers from its users can greatly help in strengthening advocacy about women's and community safety. Expanding on this, co-founder Kalpana Viswanath said: “We aim to strengthen the work done on safety and mapping by NGOs and CBOs by providing them with a tool that can help them gather data and analyse public safety.” The launch was held at the British Council in partnership with UK Government’s Department for International Development, Jagori, Ford Foundation and The Hindustan Times. Sam Sharpe, Head of DFID-India, said “We are very pleased to be supporting the development of this app. SafetiPin is a great example of finding innovative solutions to build communities where women feel safe. A panel discussion with A.G. K. Menon (INTACH Delhi convener), Nandita Das, (Actor and social activist) R.S. Pawar (Chairman, NIIT) , Rashmi Singh (Director of the National Mission for Empowerment of Women) and Susmit Sen (Musician) focused on how a community-focused technology platform can help individuals and communities engage effectively while simultaneously aiding governments and service providers to deliver better. SafetiPin is now available to Android and iPhone users. SafetiPin was built on the premise that safety is a natural consequence when neighbourhoods and communities work together to bring about change. The app was envisioned as a way to build safer cities through neighbourhood and community involvement. The app is based on global research on safety. SafetiPin allows users to record, with just a click, whether they feel safe or unsafe in a public space and why. It then provides a map with user-generated data, which shows areas of the city that are unsafe (in red), moderately safe (orange) or safe (green). Users can also record instances of harassment and security hazards, including broken lights, open sewers or overflowing garbage. These reports can be shared with neighborhood associations, NGOs and public service providers. Further SafetiPin allows users to define their ‘circles of interest’; which could be their neighborhood, or work place or any other area. They can then view (and add to) all information within these circles, and comment on them. Information can be about how people feel about their neighbourhood, safety audits, hazards or instances of harassment. Importantly, users can upload and read useful information such as the closest 24-hour pharmacy or police post to navigate the city safely.

A new mobile application that lets users rate, share information on and discuss the security and safety of their neighbourhood, place of work and markets was launched in Delhi Wednesday. "Safetipin" is a map-based free application that lets users create circles of interests around their neighbourhood or office or anywhere else in the city. Any post through the app in any of these circles will show up on a wall tagged for that circle. "The particular circle can then be audited by the user who can tell others whether a stretch of road or a spot inside that circle has adequate street lighting or public transport or not so that others may avoid that route," said co-founder of the app, Ashish Basu. "The user can upload pictures and express how he/she is feeling while visiting any part of the city and that information would be shared with the respective circle. People can then comment on the post with their own inputs," he added. In addition, useful information like the closest pharmacy or police station can also be uploaded by the users. According to Basu, Safetipin provides a map to its users which shows areas of the city that are unsafe (in red), moderately safe (orange) and safe (green). Users can also record instances of harassment and security hazards, including broken street lights, open sewers etc. "The premise behind Safetipin is that citizen and community involvement in safety will create safer neighbourhoods and cities through reducing tolerance to violence against women," said co-founder Kalpana Viswanath. The application is available to Android and iPhone users.

2013-11-13 Safetipin mobile safety app was launched by Nandita Das on 13 November 2013. Now download the family map app for Free on App Store and Google Play Store.  

Nov 14, 2013, 05.25PM IST NEW DELHI: In the wake of concerns being raised on security of women in cities, a researcher on women issues and a technology entrepreneur have joined hands to launch a mobile application, SafetiPin, which provides safety-related information collected by users. SafetiPin is a map-based mobile phone app, that crowdsources and maps information about safety in neighbourhood and cities. The app, which is available to Android and iPhone users, is free to use and is available on the App Store and Google Play. The app was launched today in the national capital, by its co-founders Kalpana Viswanath and Ashish Basu. Speaking at the launch Basu said: "The app gives people a way to engage with their neighbourhood and communities on important issues."People can interact on safety issues and infrastructure, comment on posts and pictures, Basu, who is an entrepreneur with interests in education and mobile technologies, added. The app's development was supported by the UK government's Department of International Development, Ford Foundation among others. "We aim to strengthen the work done on safety and mapping by NGOs by providing them with a tool that can help them gather data and analyze public safety," Vishwanathan, who is a researcher working on issues of violence against women and safer cities for women, said. A panel discussion on women safety issues was also held on the occasion of the launch, where NIIT chairman Rajendra Pawar stressed on searching for ways on how a community focused technology platform can help individuals and communities to engage. The platform should also aid the government and service providers with better avenues to enhance the efficiency and effectively of their services, which also includes safety and security, he added.

For the past whole year, if there’s one thing that’s been grabbing the headlines with sickening regularity, it’s crime against women. As rape and murder have become the stuff of everyday preoccupation, you wouldn’t think to say something as seemingly frivolous as “there’s an app for that”. But, of course, there are several. As women’s safety took center stage, many apps sprung up to address — or some would say leverage — what was happening. Some of these are about pressing the panic button and sending alerts for help, while a person still has her mobile phone in hand. I’ve tried some of these and the alerts do work. Of these, there’s one app that caught my attention because I really like the thinking it’s based on. I think that the principles behind this app — called SafetiPin — should work, not just for similar apps, but for other solutions being explored for women safety. SafetiPin is named for the fact that you pin something on a map. That could be the existence of a hazard, the presence of harassment, or any other problem or something like the lack of transport in that spot, or the fact that it’s a lonely and unseen spot. That brings me to the first thing I like about SafetiPin — the fact that it’s used an existing thing (maps) with a timely and new approach. When you have a map, you can define what the app calls your “circles of interest” which is whatever geographical area is relevant to you. That could be a neighbourhood, workplace, college or even just anywhere you go often or otherwise notice. When you put up a pin for a place, anyone who shares your circle of interest could also do so or see it. You can also put up comments on a wall, much as if it were a Facebook for safety. Let’s say you find an area around your house that’s particularly badly lit. You pin this on the map. Anyone living close by could then share comments and it could lead to meeting or an exchange where you decide together on taking action of some kind to get the problem fixed. And that’s the other thing I like about this app: it puts the action into the hands of those to whom the safety issue matters most. It’s up to people to use this to develop a community, a support system, or at least increased awareness. SafetiPin also involves user audits on nine parameters, some which I’ve already mentioned. One of the cofounders of this app, Ashish Basu, is a strong believer in quantification and the fact that SafetiPin asks users to rate, if they like, the safety level of a place, or use an icon to indicate their level of comfort or discomfort with a spot in their circle of interest, can be used to generate data that can then be the basis of action that makes a place safer. The app also allows for information on essentials like 24-hour pharmacies, hospitals etc., to be included. There’s also a most useful directory in the app with numbers and addresses of essential services. Because the app is map-based, you can also get immediate directions. Crowdsourced information is as authentic as it can get and SafetiPin founders plan to relay data to the government and public services authorities to push for action. Resident associations and NGOs can also use the data generated from audits and pins for improvement. Areas on the map amass pins in three colours — green for safe, amber for not safe enough and red for unsafe — the percentage of each along with ratings will gradually begin to count for or against an area in many ways including, for example, the sale value of properties. As the app comes out of its test phase and acquires users who see and share the ideas behind this effort, the numbers will start making a difference. Kalpana Viswanath, also the founder of SafetiPin, has a background in research on women’s safety issues and she’s been involved in many initiatives that no doubt bring a special understanding in creating this app. It also has the backing of UK AID and the Ford Foundation. The app itself could do with a better interface and many improvements but for a start there’s a whole lot of positive thinking built right in.

The map-based application, aiming to enhance advocacy about women and community safety, is available on all Android devices and iPhones Tanima Banerjee November 24, 2013 Women's security has been much discussed in India. After the success of Channel V's security app VithU, Safetipin, which engages the community on safety issues and infrastructure in the area, was introduced. People can comment on posts and pictures, deem a certain area as safe, moderately safe or unsafe, define circles of interest, which could be places a person visits most, trace nearest hospitals, police stations and other landmarks in those circles, and discuss safety-related issues. The map-based application, aiming to enhance advocacy about women and community safety, is available on all Android devices and iPhones. It works through GPS/3G/Wifi, mapping information and analysing the safety of a neighbourhood or city. It helps you know what areas can be avoided at a certain time, and what are the safer ways to travel to a place. You can immediately know the security levels of your place, and can engage with others living in the neighbourhood. You can discuss issues on walls tagged for a certain area and record how safe you are feeling while visiting a place and initiate further responses from others, or report an incident of harassment and upload pictures. As an experiment, I used 'audit', that allowed me to review my locality in terms of security. I posted about the damaged streetlights in my colony. In a couple of minutes, a neighbour of mine responded and echoed similar concerns. Soon, we involved more locals in this discussion. Like a team, everyone communicated with messages to the secretary of the area. In 24 hours, our street lights were repaired. Though the app beefs the safety of citizens and increases awareness on security, its biggest strength of community participation can also be a weakness. The app's success depends on an individual's interest in interacting and in building a safer environment. It often hangs if the net connection isn't fast, and needs to have a neater interface. There are no easy shortcuts to post if one is feeling safe or not unlike the power button in the VithU app. However, this app can be useful for the police, non-government organisations and the government.

2013-11-4 SafetiPin will launch its map-based mobile safety app on November 13, 2013.  The maps app will release on the Apple and Google stores at 12.01 GMT.

2013-07-1 SafetiPin mobile safety app receives support from UK Aid.  UK Aid, a bilateral agency provides a grant to SafetiPin to roll out their map-based mobile safety app in the Delhi NCR area.