Boxwise

Original Title: Boxwise
Website: https://www.boxwise.co/
Country: Greece
Category: Managing Life
Project team: Hans Peter Gürtner, Bart Driessen, Ben Firshman, Niki Manoledaki

Boxwise is an open-source web application making it easy for organisations to distribute donated goods to people in need in a fair and dignified manner.

Warehouses full of donated goods can quickly turn to chaos. Boxwise makes sure organisations know what they have, where it is, and what they need to restock. No complicated hardware is involved — only a smartphone. Boxwise eases the work of volunteers dramatically and helps them to treat people in need as equals. It creates a respectful atmosphere by facilitating distribution according to need, where people are treated like clients, not beggars.

Boxwise can be used in Internet constrained environments. As the project is open-source, long-term support and further development are secured by a large group of volunteer developers.

Boxwise offers organisations a toolbox for receiving, storing and distributing donations through free-shops. The system passed the first implementation test in refugee camps in Greece with flying colours. Boxwise is engaging and inspiring.

Jury Evaluation:

The project is designed to solve a fundamental problem in refugee camps. It eases dramatically the work of volunteers and aid organizations to categorize and manage their huge and fast changing inventory. In addition it enables them to know what they have in their warehouse and allow them to setup an efficient, need-based distribution of goods to the refugees. With the first successful implementation in Greece refugee camps Boxwise passed successfully the prove of concept phase. The jury felt this work very engaging and inspiring. –EYA Jury report

Mentor Statement:

“Boxwise is addressing a serious problem in refugee camps: the distribution of donated goods to people in need. The unique selling preposition of the project is the realworld experience of the team in a refugee camp in northern Greece. They implemented an open-source web application that solves the challenges volunteers are facing doing their daily business. It’s great to see and feel the expertise and passion of the project team members and their goal to have a social impact with the technology they develop.”

Mike Pichler
Branch Manager | Siemens AG Austria

Please note that all data refer to the time of winning the Award.