The builder's path
For: Villagers in Assam's Sonitpur, Biswanath and Udalguri districts get no warning when elephant herds are heading towards their fields and homes.
“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 Assam.
Step 1
Join an impact incubator
Shape a model that pays for itself without excluding the people who need it.
Assam's government incubator in Guwahati.
Incubator for social enterprises in health, agriculture and livelihoods.
Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Step 2
Raise patient capital
Impact funds and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Incubator for social enterprises in health, agriculture and livelihoods.
Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.
Incubator and investor at IIM Ahmedabad, with impact programmes.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
Divisions, wildlife sanctuaries and contacts for the north-bank districts.
Publisher, with the Forest Department, of the 'Tracking the Giants' elephant movement report.
Ran the tracking study and manages elephant conflict response in the districts.
Co-authored the GPS study and holds the movement analysis.
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 Tezpur, Assam, India. Problem: Villagers in Assam's Sonitpur, Biswanath and Udalguri districts get no warning when elephant herds are heading towards their fields and homes. Who it hurts: Farming families and tea garden workers living between forests, tea plantations and paddy fields on the north bank of the Brahmaputra. The moment it hurts: Night during the paddy season, when a herd leaves the forest and crosses a tea garden towards the village. What people do today: Villagers rely on watch towers, word of mouth and forest staff who arrive after a herd is already in the fields. Why it is still unsolved: Tracking data exists for only a few collared herds and is held by researchers and the Forest Department, so it does not reach the people in a herd's path in time. What solved looks like: A village alert service, built with the Forest Department, that uses collar data, sightings from forest staff and reports from villagers to send a short warning by SMS or voice call in Assamese when a herd is moving towards a village, with seasonal maps of the usual paths. Where: Tezpur, Assam, India 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.
“In the fields of observation chance favours only the prepared mind.”
Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.
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.
“When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it: this is knowledge.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“Act, keeping in view the welfare of the world.”
लोकसंग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि
lokasaṅgraham evāpi sampaśyan kartum arhasi
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“While we teach, we learn.”
Homines dum docent discunt.
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.