Divao is being built by Alice Lo despite the restrictions imposed by Hong Kong
Divao, a platform for civic tech founders, is being built by Alice Lo despite the restrictions imposed by Hong Kong
You may recall that we recently reported on the announcement of the Seedstars Digital Democracy Challenge's three winners, which you can read about here. Prize money totaling $10,000 (for the winner), $8,000 (for the runner-up), and $6,000 (for the third-place finisher) was awarded to the winners (for the third place finisher).
This private blockchain startup with its headquarters in Hong Kong is focused on providing a decentralized platform for the growth of local communities.
Alice had worked as a user experience designer for a significant portion of her professional life. She has experience working for both large corporations and start-up businesses. Her previous experience includes working as a "User experience consultant" at Curioux, a design and digital strategy firm based in Hong Kong.
AIU was where she began her professional career as a senior usability engineer, and she has since worked for a variety of companies in the United States, including Amazon. After a year in the United States, she relocated to Hong Kong in July 2012 to work as a Senior User Experience designer for Heathwallace.
In response to the question of why she chose to work in civic technology, Alice stated, "I wanted to do something that was both more challenging and more personal." A similar statement can be made about two of my business associates. They want to do something more meaningful and personal with their lives."
In her conversation with me, she explained that the political unrest in Hong Kong prompted her to think about how technology could be used to support civic reforms there. In response to the question of whether she believes the impact of technology has been felt thus far, Alice stated that "we are still very much in the process." I am confident that we will be able to evaluate and make a decision later."
About Divao
To assist innovators in areas such as public discourse, group decision-making, and civic collaboration, Divao, a privately held blockchain startup, is developing a CivicTech toolkit.
One of the more specific solutions is the use of an on-site opinion collector to gather feedback. The Neighborhood Innovation Lab was involved in the development of this tool as a collaborative effort. It provides users with the ability to provide feedback on public spaces through the use of a QR code. The Preference Voting feature, which employs the Schultz method, allows for much more nuanced decision-making and result ranking than is otherwise possible.
Additional features include the ability to log in without entering a password. Users will not be required to enter a password in order to access the decentralized tool. As a result, they are under no obligation to share their information. In addition, there is a feature known as ID Validation, which allows people to verify their identification cards over the internet. This can be advantageous during elections as well as other times.
Incorporated as a for-profit corporation, Divao For this reason, the team does not charge typical margins on solutions because its goal is long-term growth. They do, however, charge enough to make a difference, to be financially sustainable, and to be able to expand.
Her long-term goal is to scale the company into a large CivicTech enterprise, which she explained as follows: "We want to scale using a startup model."
To transform fundamental civic ideas into marketable products, Alice believes that her team possesses the necessary product design and commercialization experience. "Take, for example, my background in user experience," she explains further. For each product, we conduct extensive research to determine how it can alleviate people's pain points and provide value."
Alice informed me that the team is collaborating with an architectural firm to develop a facial recognition solution for use in public spaces, which I found interesting. "This is a service for which we already have customers. The fact that someone thinks we're doing something right validates our efforts."
"The architecture department of Hong Kong wishes to create public spaces where people can relax and enjoy themselves. As a result, they must determine whether or not the structure they have built meets the needs of the general public before moving forward. So we are working on solutions that will allow us to collect and visualize feedback about how people interact with and use public spaces as a result of this experience "She went on to explain.
The ability to raise funds is critical to Divao's expansion strategy. It was explained to me by Alice that selecting the most appropriate partners is critical to the success of the process.
The decentralisation of power is a critical factor to consider, in contrast to traditional startups where projected exponential growth is the primary criterion for funding. Therefore, we will require the participation of organizations with similar interests in order to move forward."
Challenges
Following the civil unrest in Hong Kong, the government has intensified its crackdown on civil society organizations, according to reports. "What we say and do since then," Alice asserts, is something that innovators must keep in mind.
She informed me that the idea for which Divao was awarded the Seedstars challenge is not yet operational in Hong Kong due to the fact that it makes use of blockchain technology to enable people to share information during protests is not yet operational in Hong Kong.
"As a result, if the government determines that you pose a threat, it is simple for them to file a lawsuit or file a criminal complaint against you right away. That is a very unfortunate statement to make in the first instance. Yet, despite this, we continue to look for ways to improve people's quality of life "She went on to say more.
