ECOPHONE - publicly-oriented non-for-profit mobile application and WEB platform for citizens, businesses and decision-makers to register and deal with environmental incidents
Citizens regularly encounter such eco-incidents as garbage dumps, water and soil pollution, deforestation, poaching, etc. Not all citizens know where to go to correctly and quickly file an application for prompt elimination of the violation. Therefore, they either "pass by" or "bombard" all known authorities with complaints, which often complicates the solution of the problem. Our foundation conducted a survey among followers of regional environmental associations, which confirmed that more than 80% of respondents do not know where to send such information. All these questions are addressed by the Ecophone software package, which allows to interact with government agencies and tackle specific environmental problems without filling out paper documents and searching for the necessary authorities. We are the Russian based non-for-profit NGO “The Environmental Protection Foundation - Ecophone” (till November 2023 - the Climate Security Foundation). We completed development the application in Summer 2024. The MVP version of application was presented at the Xth Nevskiy Ecological Congress in St.-Petersburg in 2023. Since then, we invested significant amount of time and resources to integrate the functionality which was recommended by our test audiences. Nowadays the application is available in Russian and English at AppStore and Google PlayMarket and ready to be deployed in any country. In the context of unification of approaches to environmental assessments and monitoring within BRICS area the applications of this kind build solid support for international cooperation and effective exchange of best practices in nature management. Besides the software code and API, we will be happy to share the methodologies for environmental impact assessment and ESG rating of regions, so that all these products could be used by all interested members for the purpose of their purification and advancement. Using the Ecophone app - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWS6gotxpKE - anyone can report an environmental incident anywhere in the world and monitor how their appeal is being processed and the damage is being eliminated. The communication channels between registered Ecophone users allow to quickly verify the authenticity of the application with the help of environmental experts and public inspectors, and calculate the possible damage. Lawyers involved in the project prepare appeals to authorized state agencies. The interactive map of the platform displays the real picture of the environmental situation on scale of countries, republics, and regions. Based on the collected data, the rating and ranking of regions, businesses, and environmental activists is formed. The Ecophone platform allows to collect and evaluate information about positive environmental initiatives, regional and business ESG-projects, and track the dynamics of their development.
Platforms And End-to-End Solutions For Government And Public Administration
Digitalization of services and service ecosystems for citizens
The development of the application took us 14 months. The deployment at any region or state including preparation period will take 2-3 months.
We completed development the application in Summer 2024. The MVP version of application was presented at the Xth Nevskiy Ecological Congress in St.-Petersburg in 2023. Since then, we invested significant amount of time and resources to integrate the functionality which was recommended by our test audiences. Nowadays the application is available in Russian and English at AppStore and Google PlayMarket and ready to be deployed at any country. Currently the application is settled to be deployed in the Russian federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
There have been several attempts worldwide to develop an application of this kind, but almost all of them were unsuccessful. Our application is featured by the depth of development of functionality and the ability for users to participate in various roles: environmental activist, moderator, lawyer, environmental inspector, business representative, government representative. Each role has its own functionality within the application. For every filed case registered in Ecophone - a communication channel and the ability to exchange messages and any relevant information via a built-in instant messenger is provided. The user will always be able to ask questions about the application and upload additional documents if necessary. The results of the review of applications will be uploaded to Ecophone and will be available not only to users who submitted the application about the incident, but also to other users. Each person will be able to achieve the elimination of the incident through Ecophone and find out how their activity affected the change in the environmental situation in the region. The application is based on Google maps. It also functions in online and offline modes. The Ecophone has a loyalty program option with users’ ranking and options to integrate partners’ bonuses programs. The Ecophone application infrastructure is a constructor with an open API and can be easily deployed in any country, as it allows to add metadata to the program code that takes into account the specifics - environmental parameters and legislative requirements - of any country. The launch of Ecophone allows direct interaction between citizens who care about the state of the environment and representatives of the government and business. Information about environmental incidents received from citizens will be processed by specialists in order to prepare and send appeals to regulatory authorities to eliminate identified violations of environmental legislation. In addition, if necessary, the application will allow sending a request for additional data to relevant bodies to confirm information about the incident. The application automatically calculates potential damage from an environmental incident based on the damage calculation methodology approved by the legislation of a particular country. We developed a Methodology for calculating environmental damage which allows, based on the data provided by the user, to calculate the approximate amount of damage in monetary terms. For active users, a loyalty program from partners is provided. Accumulated points for activity will be exchanged for bonuses - educational courses, recreation, shopping and other services. A rating of eco-activists is compiled. The Ecophone application is also a platform for government bodies and business representatives to post information on ESG projects implemented in the regions.
1. Forbes publication, ESG: https://www.forbes.ru/sustainability/505148-ekofon-ocenil-effektivnost-regionov-v-esg. 2) The President of the Foundation, Oleg Popov at COP26 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzq5Y7PaQEE.
Ecophone promo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWS6gotxpKE Practice Owner website - https://экофон.рф (RUS); https://ecophone.pro/en (ENG). Practice web-page: 1) Methodology of ESG-ranking of regions of Russia - https://приложение.экофон.рф/public/upload/document/621_1d8460187f.pdf 2) Methodology of damage monetary assessment - https://приложение.экофон.рф/public/upload/document/621_10fa7f19db4.pdf 3) AppStore download - https://apps.apple.com/ru/app/ecophone/id6446772826?l=en 4) GooglePlay download - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=apro.eco.phone 5) Web-application available at - https://приложение.экофон.рф
