Real-Time Financial Service Location Planning and Search

Tyler Radford from Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team in the U.S. will partner with the local tech community in Uganda to develop web- and phone-based applications that enable individuals to locate their nearest financial services such as an ATM or mobile money provider, and help financial service providers identify the best locations to expand access across developing countries. They will build a phone-based application for consumers that includes a simple search function as well as the ability to upload relevant information about the financial service, such as opening hours, to increase the value of the application. They will also develop a discovery application incorporating data from the existing OpenStreetMap, which includes locations of existing financial services, schools etc., and can identify underserved areas that would benefit from new services. The applications will be pilot-tested in Uganda, and success measured by the number of users and subsequently by the degree of expansion of financial services.