The builder's path
For: Small organizations can't see what their website costs a visitor on a slow or metered connection.
“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.”
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in Canada.
Step 1
Build in the open
Publish the code and invite contributors from the community.
Civic tech: technologists working with governments on public services.
Builds federal public services in the open; a route for problems with government services.
Local offices across rural Canada with small business loans and advice; in Atlantic Canada they are called CBDCs.
Quebec's AI institute in Montreal; partners with organisations on applied AI projects.
Step 2
Fund the maintainers
Sponsors, collectives and open source grants.
Civic tech: technologists working with governments on public services.
Builds federal public services in the open; a route for problems with government services.
Advice and funding for technology innovation in Canada.
Funded research internships linking students with organisations.
Step 3
Get it adopted
Civic tech groups and public bodies take it up.
Civic tech: technologists working with governments on public services.
Where the federal government posts its tenders; search by region and category.
Federal departments post challenges and fund small businesses to solve them, then buy the result.
The federal business development bank: loans, advice and venture capital.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
free page audits with an API that returns resource sizes
what the existing scores measure and leave out
publishes the page weight data and methods
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in Canada. Problem: Small organizations can't see what their website costs a visitor on a slow or metered connection. Who it hurts: Volunteers and staff who run websites for community groups, town councils and small businesses. The moment it hurts: When someone outside a town on a capped mobile plan tries to load a notice and the page stalls. What people do today: Audit tools report scores and milliseconds on a simulated phone, which many site owners can't turn into a decision. Why it is still unsolved: Page weight keeps growing, and most site owners never see it in terms of time or money for their own visitors. What solved looks like: A free page where someone enters a web address and sees total download size, the cost at a per-GB rate they enter, load time at 5, 10 and 50 Mbps, and the three biggest files to fix first. Totals match browser developer tools within 10% on 10 real sites. Where: Canada First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“The true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention.”
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“Lead me from the unreal to the real, from darkness to light.”
असतो मा सद्गमय। तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय।
asato mā sad gamaya, tamaso mā jyotir gamaya
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“A journey of a thousand li starts beneath one's feet.”
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits.”
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.