WHO: Grey-box is a social innovation startup that is working on providing free wifi access to educational content in areas where internet and electricity access is problematic.

WHY: 50% of the world lives offline – they haven’t connected to the internet in the last 3 months. In Africa, the average cost for 1GB of data is 7% of the average monthly salary. Even in North America, 50% of rural Canada does not have access to the minimum speed for the Internet. We believe that this is a solvable problem.

HOW: Over the last 2 years and based on field research and work, we have developed an array of mostly open-source social innovation projects. Each of those projects has a dedicated page on Riipen, but this listing serves as a quick summary:

• UNI is a low-cost device (and soon an Android application) that allows Wi-Fi access to everyone, everywhere, even in areas without reliable or safe internet. With a simple click to upload, Slides, PDFs, videos, Moodle, databases, or even copies of entire websites can be made available offline for free.
• Project Codex uses AI to translate medical databases in several languages and regions to facilitate international operations. It can be accessed via a mobile site or a tool such as WhatsApp. The Medical Codex project aims to provide an easy-to-use tool that can help coordinate medical equipment between countries and to quickly translate medical terms across multiple languages while accounting for local variations such as brands and generics.
• Project Symmetry is an application using AI to accelerate Wikipedia's translation efforts in less-represented languages (less than 1 million articles) by building a semantic understanding of similar articles in various Wikipedia languages and providing relevant translations for missing information
• Project Scraper is a Google Chrome extension that enables offline access to a web page or an entire website with just a few clicks.
• Project Mesh is an application that enables Android devices to connect and send files and messages over long distances without requiring internet connectivity.
• Project Cybercafe is software that runs on an Android device, enabling smart hotspot functionality for the sharing of internet connectivity with other Wi-Fi devices. Recognizing costs and other restrictions that may exist in our targeted regions, several controls are in place to allow a high level of control over how a user’s hotspot device is used for internet access.

Due to the multifaceted nature of our projects, learners can engage in a variety of tasks. This may include:

• Conduct market research, including demographic data, market size, and connectivity issues.
• Perform PESTLE and SWOT analysis to identify trends and competitor strengths/weaknesses.
• Analyze the state of connectivity in specific regions and identify key challenges with supporting data.
• Identify stakeholders, key players, and organizations related to connectivity and literacy.
• Research relevant events and communities for potential engagement.
• Conduct competitor analysis and recommend strategies for Grey-box’s brand positioning.
• Manage project timelines and budgets, ensuring deliverables are met on time and within scope.
• Develop go-to-market strategies for product launches and community outreach.
• Gather user feedback and coordinate testing to improve product functionality.
• Engage in partnership outreach and prepare proposals for collaboration.