IIITH Launches 'Badal' Platform For Crowdsourcing Social Development

IIIT Hyderabad's Raj Reddy Centre for Technology and Society (RCTS) is launching Platform Badal, a crowdsourcing initiative aimed at bridging the gap between NGOs and corporations. The platform allows corporates to crowdsource developer work time to build technical solutions to curated problems from NGOs. The initiative is being piloted with Infosys and Kakatiya Institute of Engineering and Technology (KIET), aiming to bridge the gap in education and healthcare.

The Kakatiya Institute of Engineering and Technology (KIET) in Andhra Pradesh conducted pilot runs to refine the crowdsourcing model 3rd and 4th-year engineering students gained real-world experience by working on RCTS projects. 

An NGO named Nirmaan needed a digital library wall and Infosys developed the application to encourage community reading among children. Infosys provided seven developers and a manager to track progress and coordinate between developers and the RCTS team. 

Raj Reddy Centre for Technology and Society curates solutions for NGOs' problems, inviting corporate partners to develop them. The core team works on solution architecture or ML modeling, either in-house or in collaboration with other research labs at IIITH. These tasks are published as development tasks on 'Badal', where contributors can take up the work. Companies contribute their employees' efforts and time through CSR activities. Once developers meet requirements, the core team integrates the solution, which is tested in the field.

“The Badal crowdsourcing model is a groundbreaking initiative that aims to use technology for societal good, involving the participation of the broader community. By partnering with corporate entities, the platform can broaden its reach and impact, promoting social change and encouraging more individuals to contribute to the cause”, P J Narayanan, Director, IIIT Hyderabad, said. 

“The company is exploring the use of AI and ML solutions to help NGOs address their challenges and encourage developers to participate in CSR activities. The platform Badal, named after its dual goals of cloud and change, is open to freelancers and student developers. The company aims to bring about social change through cloud technology and is open to any individual who wants to freelance”, Arjun Rajasekar, Senior Research Scientist, RCTS, said.