Bridging the digital divide

#Digital access for newcomers to the internet

#Improving the lives of underserved and marginalized communities globally

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Blog posts

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Tech for Good October 20, 2024

Whatsapp Exits KaiOS Phones. Now What?

As Meta removes Whatsapp support for KaiOS feature phones, where does that leave users of these affordable mobile devices?

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Tech for Good September 26, 2024

Could a keypad phone save your kid from smartphone addiction?

With unprecedented access to the internet and devices, parents today have to deal with a problem their parents and grandparents never grappled with—kids’ smartphone addiction. How does the old-fashioned keypad phone stack up as a potential solution?

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Tech for Good August 21, 2024

Frugal Innovation and Citizen Science Help Combat Plastic Pollution

As plastic pollution threatens to overwhelm our beaches, oceans and marine life, frugal innovation and citizen science can help track and combat this global problem.

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Latest Projects

Digital Literacy Kit

D.Lit Toolkit

D.Lit (short for ‘Digital Literacy’) is a fun and interactive toolkit for the elderly to learn how to use their mobile phones and gain digital confidence.
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KaiOS reviews

Our ‘pet’ project Kobi is a review platform for KaiOS apps, for smart feature keypad phones that are widely used in developing economies.

The Boy and the Coin

In our short animated film, ‘The Boy and the Coin’, a boy has to buy his sister, who has Covid-19, some food. It turns out to be not such a simple task. 

MISSION & Vision

At SpudnikLab, we believe that digital access can be a powerful socio-economic leveler for underprivileged individuals and communities around the world.
However, about 4 billion people globally live with no access to the internet. That’s why we’ve made it our mission to help bridge the digital divide (the gap between the digital access haves and have-nots) through low-cost innovation and appropriate technology. Appropriate technology is a movement involving technological application that’s small-scale, decentralised and labor-intensive. It’s also energy-efficient, environmentally sound and locally autonomous. We think it’s fantastic.
Our solutions to bridge the #digitaldivide aim to:
  1. Facilitate digital access for those coming to the internet for the first time.
  2. Harness the benefits of digital access to improve the lives of underserved and marginalized communities around the world.

OUR TEAM

Melissa De Silva

Melissa De Silva

Editor-in-chief

Melissa is a writer and storyteller who believes in the agency of stories to promote empathy across the lines of culture, socio-economics and other differences, and to deepen our understanding of what it means to be human. Melissa comes from a background in publishing and journalism. She is also the author of the book, ‘Others’ is Not a Race, about growing up Eurasian in Singapore, which won the Singapore Literature Prize 2018 (Creative Nonfiction).
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Jamie WOnG

writer & researcher

Jamie believes that knowledge should be shared and accessible, and finds meaning in enabling people to learn and do good. She is a content creator, maker, debater, artist, speaker, avid volunteer and whatever else she deems required in her quest to bring positive change to the world. She’s mostly here, but a tiny bit of her is always with the unbothered terrapins swimming around Singapore Quarry. 
Marketing Lead SpudnikLab

WENSHAN LEONG

MARKETING LEAD

Wenshan is a skilled professional with decades-long experience in public affairs and publishing. She has had the privilege of working in sectors like book publishing, non-profit, aviation, higher education, the performing arts, and now technology & innovation. Her work has brought her to China, Bhutan, India, Indonesia and Timor Leste. Working across cultures and on new subject matters energise her. In her free time, she volunteers with arts and social service organisations.
Niky Ayu Lestari Digital Solution Developer

Niky ayu lestari

DIGITAL SOLUTIONS DEVELOPER

Niky was born and raised in the easternmost region of Indonesia. She defines what it means to be both developer and creator with a bit of business sense. Whether building technical concepts, analysing and designing project requirements or digging through data, she enjoys doing research and development through sustainable digital solutions. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Informatics Engineering on a full scholarship program and spends time on productivity and charity. Says Niky, “While we love what we do, we know that life is about more than work, like sharing and being an influence of good to others.”
Firyal

FIRYAL DALILAH IHSANI

digital solutions developer

Firyal has an interest in anything tech, especially software development. She has passion for self development, constantly learning through technical experimentation, and exploring business startups. An entire day spent debugging, solving problems, finding solutions and building projects is a good day for her. She also has an avid curiosity about game development, particularly with Construct3 and Unity. In college, Firyal was an active member of the Google Developer Student Club and Data Science Club, and she recalls fondly her experience of the Machine Learning Study Jam while an administrator then.
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Saad chinoy

Chief geek

Saad is a professional geek with a passion for technology and OpenSource methodology. Previous to SpudnikLab, he was conceptualising tech solutions for digital publishing company Tusitala (also part of Potato Productions). He brings his experience developing digital solutions that leverage smart-phone interactivity and his expertise with AR / VR / stop-motion animation and other digital tools to create innovative solutions to bridge the #digitaldivide. When not taking computers apart, Saad volunteers globally with several non-profits and is a self-confessed maker and coffee epicure.
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