Client
Hive
Services
During times of crisis, trust between institutions and communities becomes increasingly fragile. Our client recognized that nurturing this trust requires communities to not only be heard but also meaningfully involved in shaping responses to shared challenges. They set out to create a digital platform that would make credible, scientific health information accessible to everyone, while also offering communities a central role in preparing for future health emergencies.
Challenge
The concept was rooted in the idea that information alone isn’t enough. People need tools to interpret, adapt, and act on it within their local context. To support this, the platform needed to aggregate content from a defined list of online sources and official health authority websites, but also to ensure that the information shared was both accurate and trustworthy. One of the biggest challenges was how to aggregate all this information into one unified system. This required a deep understanding of the information ecosystem, how information was distributed, and the key information to focus on. The next challenge was how to structure and design a space that brings together communities and cross-disciplinary partners to exchange information and collaborate on epidemic and pandemic preparedness activities. The platform’s goal was to build relationships that can easily be scaled up and/or reactivated as a response to future health emergencies.
“The Hive project grew out of the desire to change how credible health information is discussed, created, and shared in preparation for the next epidemic or pandemic. HTEC has excelled as an agile developer, providing invaluable engineering solutions to difficult problems in an ever-changing environment.”
– The Hive project team
Solution
HTEC was contracted to help develop a knowledge management digital space for health emergency preparedness and response based on reliable information from trusted sources. The information was to be shared by a network of trusted messengers to address the spread of false or misleading information in both the digital and physical spaces.
To achieve this, HTEC conducted in-depth research of trusted sources provided by trusted communities and experts at the very start of COVID-19 outbreak. After identifying and classifying the sources, there were two key areas to focus on when building the platform: data and integrations.
Data component
HTEC’s first step was to build a custom data-scraping system which enables the client’s platform to automatically gather articles from thousands of sources world-wide. Then the team created a custom AI and ML powered data-processing and classification system to curate the incoming data which is then served to Hive platform members based on their selected categories, locations, and activities on the platform. Users fill out their profiles indicating their interests so they can be more easily identified within the app itself.
“Our engineering and design teams had the opportunity to work with client’s experts and create a product from the initial ideas to the production-ready solution. Using our engineering expertise, the latest technologies, including AI and machine learning, and the best product design practices, it was a pleasure looking at how the platform evolved and welcomed users. My colleagues and I are proud of the collaboration and the product we built.”
– Živan Miljkov, Engineering and Delivery Lead at HTEC
Integration component
The other important component of the system was integration — how to integrate all the critical elements into one solution. Our team developed a system architecture compliant with the client’s internal regulations using the latest technologies and agile framework. The developed platform is highly secure and scalable. It integrates off-the-shelf solutions to help the project team save upfront development costs and provide a familiar, low barrier-to-entry user experience.
The outcome was a beautiful solution that offers four key features to its users on the frontend:
1. Community space — Where people can share ideas, knowledge, and files with other members and experts to obtain the best available scientific information and actionable insights.
2. Community forum and chats — To serve as means of direct communication where users exchange messages directly, in groups, or with the community.
3. Events — The platform offers a conferencing package that enables users to schedule meetings and webinars.
4. Hive Drive — A repository where users can upload their files and share collections with other users and communities on the platform to enable more effective collaboration.
Success
The Hive platform leverages AI-powered data classification, as well as best practices and learnings shared between its members to help communities collaborate in the times of health crises and crowd-source solutions together based on evidence and scientific knowledge. With this solution, we have created a centralized hub for connections to prepare and respond to the next health emergency. The platform was recognized as a place where access to the right information, at the right time, in the right format is available to help manage the Infodemic during an emergency.
“HTEC has proven time and time again that they have the technical expertise to deliver innovative solutions to tight deadlines. They have been a very agile contractor that has worked under often changing and difficult conditions. In addition to their technical proficiency, the HTEC team has consistently demonstrated their passion and willingness to go the extra mile. Their dedication to our project and dedication to solve problems has been evident in every deliverable, and it is this level of commitment that sets them apart as a developer.”
– The Hive project team
