How Signpost Works

How a Signpost Program Launches

Every local Signpost program is context-specific and designed to meet users where they are on the digital channels they already use in the languages they speak. Vital Information in times of crisis must be hyper-localized to reflect the lived realities and needs of clients.

1. Hire and Train Local Moderators

2. Website and Zendesk Back-end

Staff who speaks the local languages, are trained in psychological first aid and communication methods

Channels communication routes into one place for local moderators to manage and respond; houses informational articles

Bearing in mind security concerns, services are mapped to allow clients to find and access essential services

In coordination with local staff who ensure it suits the content and will be appealing and trustworthy to target population

4. Creation of Local Service Map

3. Design a Local Brand

6. Creation of Social Media Channels

5. Information Landscape Assessment

To publish content and provide messaging routes for clients to ask questions and receive a Zendesk ticket

Establishes information needs and most used channels to do so

Dynamic Content

Signpost’s content is driven by the communities who ask questions and each program’s team of researchers, writers and community liaisons — all from affected communities and civil society partners. Signpost is a responsive information service model, meaning that informational content is created and updated based on self-expressed community needs. As the self-expressed needs change, Signpost teams use those trends to drive content creation and better serve their target populations.

What a Signpost Program Looks Like

Signpost uses cutting-edge technology to connect crisis-affected people with vital resources, such as health or legal services. Programming is delivered via social media, websites, chat apps and directly through practitioners for maximum reach and accessibility. Clients are able to access resources and assistance through:

  • Websites & Social Media: Signpost programs each have their own website and social media channels. Program websites house informational articles and resources. Social media channels allow Signpost programs clients with relevant information. Through the donation of social media ad credits, teams are able to run campaigns specifically to their target demographics, which is how many clients first learn about Signpost.

  • Local Service Maps: Clients has easily access a geolocated maps of vetted service providers for access to essential services. In places wheres security is a concern, Signpost teams will remove the exact location, for the safety of both the provider and the client.

  • Two-Way Communication: Clients can ask direct questions and receive a response from a trained, local community liaison within 24 hours. Clients ask questions through a variety of messaging channels, which all feed into the same back-end for the Signpost team. Using a Zendesk ticketing system, teams can efficiently respond to all of the questions that they receive.

Social Media Messaging

Service Map and
Articles on Website

Targeted Ads

A client from Honduras, looks at the InfoDigna website on her phone, which offers reliable and up-to-date information for migrants transiting through Mexico.

Technology

Our Tools

Digital Help Centers

  • Signpost programs post short-form content on social media platform: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp Channels, and Telegram Channels. This content is interactive and built for virality.

  • Signpost websites have service maps that point clients to the most relevant services in their area. They allow for clients to filter and have popups showing the most relevant information.

  • We build websites that also can be deployed offline in any context. Offline rendering allows us to use our web platforms as visual aids in refugee camps, or in person help centers.

  • Our sites are based on components that can be applied like lego blocks to any context with any specifications needed. This means we can centrally test and deploy tools in 30 countries in one place.

Service Mapping

  • Signpost deploys surveys that self-propel to map humanitarian services using their immediate networks to get faster and more accurate information about services without added work.

  • Signpost has ways to analyze service data on geospatial planes using multiple layers of risk and demographic data to target where services are needed.

  • Stakeholder mapping is done to show who is responding to a crisis, what they do, and who they work with. We map referral pathways and funding networks to provide better service direction to clients.

  • Coming soon: Signpost offers ways for clients to offer feedback to humanitarian services based on their referral experience.

Zendesk Support

  • Responsive communication to clients from one system that is connected to Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, Telegram, Viber, SMS, Call Center, voice recording

  • Bots that can be rapidly deployed to address crisis needs in over 50 languages. Our bots work in Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Telegram, and Viber.

  • Our team can send Whatsapp, telegram and SMS messages proactively to people in any country around the globe. We work with contact lists provided through digital intake or from contact lists.

  • We can use bots or web-based surveys to regularly collect data about client needs including for registering clients for cash or housing.

Data Hub

  • Signpost has a an Azure Synapse to Azure Data warehouse pipeline to store and anonymize our data so it can be safely prepared for visualization.

  • Signpost is building the ability to analyze a contexts information and service needs based on geofencing of existing data and contact information.

  • From social media data, we can analyze the content of communications after they have been made anonymized and safe for analysis so we can better understand information needs direct from clients.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

What does our tech team do?

Our technology team maintains a single technology infrastructure for interagency programming teams all across the globe. We centrally build on existing technologies that are rapidly deployable, innovative, and safe.

  • Ongoing tech stack development, building on existing tech platforms to scale vertically​. Built to lower costs and increase stability of working environment

  • The deployment of tested Signpost technology to new emergency contexts, scaling horizontally. Signpost can deploy technology to emergencies in as little as 48 hours.

  • As a global presence, Signpost is a vessel to scale innovative technologies to reach in new places. We deploy a human centered approach to create innovations that can be piloted and scaled for the good of all Signpost partners, and the sector.

  • Continuous optimization of systems architecture, security, and development to better automate processes and make our work safer, and more efficient.

Tech Philosophy

Signpost makes effective, easy to use, safe, and scalable technology from existing tech.​

  • We support programming goals - Signpost is not just tech - it’s a whole program​. Tech is just a tool. It can be used well and positively impact people’s lives and it can also cause serious harm. We are committed to only using technology when it is needed.

  • We maintain and govern technology with minimum resources​

  • We offer all tools at no or low cost to teams using the technology​

  • We make adaptable technology to meet in-country needs ​

  • We ensure tech supports inter-organization work and is extensible to partners ​Item description

  • We collaborate w/ tech companies to draw best talent and compile best practices​

Our Roadmap

We move fast.

We accomplished a 3 year plan in 6 months following the Ukraine crisis. Our roadmap adapts to the emerging needs of crises and a core set of needs from our clients and humanitarian partners.

Now

  • Signpost is expanding to 10 new countries and the technology team is onboarding, training, and building new Signpost hubs.

  • Internet is hard to find where we work. We are making digital products to support affected populations fully offline.

  • Instead of manually entering data or fumbling through spreadsheets, we will make forms for service providers to map their services.

  • With over 400 staff across the globe, we are building a hub to train new staff and create a community for sharing knowledge.

Next

  • AI research lab to test how to use AI safely to help people in distress, through moonshot prototypes to solve age old problems.

  • Creating visualizations so our technology team can measure the impact and efficiency of each project for the people we serve.

  • Using chatbots to provide instant referral to clients and to automate the follow up and feedback about services to referred clients.

  • Our websites need a refresh. With better styling, user experience, and automated deployments we will reach more people.

Later

  • A hub of unstructured humanitarian and environmental data to add multi-layered data to mapping so decision makers have context.

  • Delivery of digital cash through existing Signpost programs so we can create a wallet and directly transfer cash to clients in need.

  • One place for developers and product staff to deploy and test any new Signpost instance, aiding development and maintenance.

  • Using our global mapping hub and social communication infrastructure we will target information based on contextual data.

Partners

Our Partners

Signpost works hand-in-hand with world-class technology companies and non-profit initiatives all across the globe. We levy the best technical expertise, contextual and local knowledge and software support into a comprehensive suite of tools ​and services from our partners. Working alongside our in-house tech teams, our partners have helped us deploy in emergencies and think big about the future.


Our current partners include:

How to Partner with Signpost

Interested in partnering with Signpost? Contact us from here!