
Ask HK: How can a programmer help small villages? - li4ick
I&#x27;m talking about your typical Eastern Europe village, like 5000 people small, where almost everybody has internet access and a car. 
I have an opportunity to help the local government, at least remotely. And they are open to any ideas(let&#x27;s just assume the budget is really small).
What value can I bring that would positively influence such a small community?
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AnimalMuppet
Move there, for two reasons.

First, it's the way you're _really_ find out what they need - by being there,
being immersed in the life of the village, meeting and talking to the people
who actually live there, and finding out what in their lives you could do
something to help.

And second, if you live there, you'll do most of your buying there, supporting
local businesses. That helps the town, too.

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sushid
OP literally said “remotely” in the comment. I’m guessing they don’t/can’t
move there and your only solution is to go against their major constraint.

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hos234
The GIS community has a bunch of stuff for local govt. Just google "GIS small
town". Maps/Dashboards (of issues) to track things basically - road repairs,
streetlighting, sewage/water monitoring, zoning/taxes, utilities etc etc.

This maybe too advanced but will give you ideas (go through the other case
studies) - [http://www.vassarlabs.com/smart-cities-
section.html#scogp](http://www.vassarlabs.com/smart-cities-section.html#scogp)

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jelliclesfarm
An online polling system for govt.

Online portal facilitating barter system and resources.

Enable small businesses that serve locally and to trade with neighbors.

But you first have to figure out what their challenges are...you can either
move there to evaluate or use a trusted party to convey without bias, the pain
points.

Education..for youth and adults..is always good..regardless of location..

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Hitton
Dunno how feasible it would be to do remotely, but your best bet would be to
spend few days with magistrate clerks, watch what they do and automate
repetitive procedures. For instance they often know only absolute basics of
Excel, so even simple things can help them immensely.

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chmielewski
solarpowered mesh WiFi network - it’s easy and cheap these days with SBCs

