
Cambodia is a country consistently ranked as one of the most vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. In order to deliver timely and potentially lifesaving information to people in disaster prone areas, an Early Warning System (EWS) was conceived by the organization, People In Need (PIN). PIN realized that accessibility to all Cambodians, regardless of literacy and Internet connectivity issues is necessary. Somelang decided to look into a solution which uses voice based messaging for alerts and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) for registration. In collaboration with UNICEF, Somelang decided to use RapidPro, an open-source platform of applications that delivers rapid and vital real-time information, to manage the registration of users into the system. With help from the Royal Cambodian Government, the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) and the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), it was regulated that the Early Warning System must be provided free of charge by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in Cambodia.
Throughout the duration of the investment from the Fund, Somleng operated in Cambodia and Somalia, processing around 296,000 minutes worth of registrations and 83,600 minutes worth of alerts, resulting in a total cost saving of $8,353.29 (95%) if compared with Twilio (a major player in the IVR market). Somleng is connecting to more Mobile Network Operators in more countries, for example in Nepal, they are working closely with People In Need and will roll out a Mobile Health (mHealth) platform and an Early Warning System in using Somleng. In addition, Somleng is actively seeking more deployment partners.