Prometheus

A web-based application that support volunteers with their needs management

Prometheus is a custom-made FOSS web-based application that has been developed to support Teams/Volunteers with their Needs management.

Prometheus started as part of Informatics & Communications Technologies for Development, Aid, Support and Collaboration (ICT4dascgr) actions to support Volunteers that take part on helping refugees across Aegean, Greek islands. There are tools that serve similar goals but Prometheus attempts to stand among them through the simplicity it offers. Prometheus, does what it says and say what is does, nothing more or nothing else.

The platform is a bundle that can be deployed with minimal software and connectivity requirements (LAMP / Python / Flask / SQLite for local deployment, can work offline). The choice of SQLite is crucial as it requires no special settings and the single database file can be easily shared with the main operation center and other local deployments.

Prometheus’ function is based on a separation of users in two roles, Coordinators and Volunteers. Any Volunteer can be a Coordinator and a Coordinator must be a Volunteer.

A Coordinator can register Volunteers and grand them access to the system or change Volunteer role to Coordinator. Coordinators can also add a Spot, which are geolocations what Teams operate. Finally, a Coordinator can add daily Needs with the number of volunteers needed and time period requested (morning, evening etc).

After a Need is submitted, all Volunteers with access can select to contribute to a specific Need and listed to that specific Need. If the requested number of Volunteers is completed, this Need is closed for further selection.

As a sequence of the above, Coordinators what is the Need cycle and which Volunteers will fulfill this Need.

The Prometheus platform is already deployed in Chios island since late January 2016 and it is already used operationally by the NGOs and volunteering teams. There is also a plan to extend its deployment with other nodes in Samos, Kos, Lesvos and possibly Idomeni and Piraeus port. For the last two cases, the platform needs changes in its core focus, from first-response and events management to logistics and management of storage facilities & supplies.

Prometheus is supported by the Hellenic Informatics Union (HIU) and the Informatics & Communications Technologies for Development, Aid, Support and Collaboration (ICT4dascgr) group since October 2015. Real-world assessment and future extensions will be presented in subsequent conferences, including predictive analytics of refugee influx traffic that will be embedded as plug-in modules in subsequent releases of the platform.

Τhe image provided above is a screenshot of the app deployment in Chios.