The builder's path
For: Households in Mexico City's rationed neighbourhoods can't tell when the water will actually come on.
“The true creator is necessity, which is the mother of our invention.”
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 Mexico City.
Step 1
Join an incubator or startup mission
They connect you to schemes and officials.
Y Combinator's free course and co-founder matching.
Accelerator for tech nonprofits.
Network of civic tech groups in many countries; find the one near the problem.
Step 2
Win a seed grant
Prove the idea works with a small, funded prototype.
Funds bold ideas in global health and humanitarian work.
Let the people a free tool helps fund its maintainer directly.
Grants for open source that makes the internet better.
Funds open source solutions from emerging economies.
Step 3
Pilot with a public body
A district, city or department tries it with real people.
Network of civic tech groups in many countries; find the one near the problem.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
Sacmex's site showing supply status by colonia; the official side of the comparison.
Runs the tandeo schedules and pipa deliveries.
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 Mexico City, Mexico. Problem: Households in Mexico City's rationed neighbourhoods can't tell when the water will actually come on. Who it hurts: Families in colonias on tandeo, where water arrives only on certain days and hours. The moment it hurts: Planning laundry, cooking and filling tanks around a schedule that may not be kept. What people do today: Residents watch the tap, ask neighbours, pay for private water trucks (pipas) and sometimes block roads to get a response. Why it is still unsolved: The published schedule and what reaches each street can differ, and there is no shared record of when water really arrived. What solved looks like: Residents of each colonia get a WhatsApp alert when neighbours report water arriving, and a public chart compares the official schedule with reported arrival times, street by street, for the water authority to act on. Where: Mexico City, Mexico 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.
“Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control.”
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.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“That which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.”
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“As to diseases, make a habit of two things: to help, or at least to do no harm.”
ἀσκέειν περὶ τὰ νουσήματα δύο, ὠφελέειν ἢ μὴ βλάπτειν
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.