Skill Set Finder

Konbit is a service that helps communities rebuild themselves after a crisis by indexing the skillsets of local residents, then allowing NGOs to find and employ them. Konbit is a term Haitians use to signify the need for individuals in communities to help one another in difficult times.

Haitians, their diaspora, and the international community can volunteer their skills via phone, SMS, or web. Skills can then be searched in real-time and location by NGOs such as The American Red Cross, Partners-in-Health, and others.

MIT Media Lab grad students Aaron Zinman and Greg Elliott have designed this first-of-kind, interactive communication platform to link people with skills to those looking for help and perhaps willing to barter services. The Konbit platform should be ready for use by March 1, 2010.

Konbit is language and medium neutral, whereby Kreyol voice and text messages may be translated into other languages through the Konbit phone, text or web interface.

Here's how it should work: a Haitian could 1) call a phone number and leave voice information about his/her skills or 2) text an SMS message or 3) write a message via the internet. The caller will hear (if calling) or see (if writing) a series of questions, and his answers will enter a database automatically.

Assuming the message is in native Kreyol, volunteer Haitians will translate the messages, which will then be transcribed into the database. The listing will eventually appear on all three channels (phone, text and web) after processing. Haitian cab drivers in Boston might translate for a couple of hours a week, for example, and a student in Wisconsin would transcribe the cab driver's English.

Contact Aaron with questions at aaron (at) azinman (dot) com.