The new Brightact app was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in domestic violence. The app coordinates support to help victims of violence and save lives. The two founders Sofie Wahlström and Elinor Samuelsson have been awarded this year’s Göran Bredinger Scholarship for their work on Brightact.
For the seventh consecutive year, the Göran Bredinger Scholarship, in collaboration with Forum for Social Innovation Sweden Malmö University, is being awarded to a young social entrepreneur who is contributing in an innovative way to solving a societal challenge. This year, the 50,000-krona scholarship is being awarded to Sofie Wahlström and Elinor Samuelsson for Brightact, an app that was developed starting in March.
“It became clear that there is a lack of coordination across organizational boundaries. This was particularly evident when it came to coordinating efforts for victims of violence,” says Elinor Samuelsson.
Domestic violence on the rise
The number of emergency calls from women subjected to intimate partner violence increased by up to 60 percent in European member states in April, compared to previous years, according to WHO statistics. Bris reports a 30 percent increase in calls in April, with children describing arguments and violence at home.
“There is currently no data available that shows the full extent of the increase in intimate partner violence in real time,” says Elinor Samuelsson.
Difficulty in linking data
There are challenges in evaluating societal support and interventions for victims of violence, as it is currently not possible to link data at the aggregate level from different government agencies and social actors who work in parallel, or at different stages, and collaborate on behalf of victims of violence. To generate evidence regarding collaboration and the short- and long-term effects of interventions, a more comprehensive data set is needed.
“Such data can be collected through our app, which would be valuable to municipalities and government agencies for quality monitoring and would also facilitate research,” says Sofie Wahlström.
Coordinates help and support
The app for victims of violence coordinates aid organizations and hotlines through support chats, legal assistance from attorneys, micro-courses from organizations and government agencies, and contact with the police and social services. The app collects anonymous, aggregated data for municipalities and government agencies to help them better plan resources and predict increases in violence. An effective tool for municipalities and authorities to monitor, develop strategies, and prevent intimate partner violence. In the next release, there will also be an option to store evidence for police reports.
The app has won several competitions
Brightact has won numerous technology competitions, including the European Commission’s “EUvsVirus” initiative to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ranked among the top entries in the government’s “HacktheCrisis” competition. Now, the company has been awarded the 2020 Göran Bredinger Scholarship, which is presented in conjunction with the Social Innovation Summit:
“The grant means a lot to us because it allows us to put proper contracts in place with the help of lawyers—both regarding how we handle data securely and for agreements with future customers based on the services we provide, all in compliance with the Personal Data Act. We also plan to fund cloud solutions to make the app accessible,” says Elinor Samuelsson.
The jury’s rationale forthis year’s grant recipient
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become clear that society lacks coordination across organizational boundaries. This is particularly evident when it comes to coordinating efforts to assist victims of domestic violence. The number of emergency calls from women subjected to domestic violence and calls from children reporting fights and violence at home has increased significantly during the pandemic.
This year’s recipient of the Göran Bredinger Scholarship, BrightAct, is primarily dedicated to helping people exposed to domestic violence in Sweden and around the world. They do this by streamlining and coordinating support and initiatives that can give vulnerable individuals access to vital social safety nets. BrightAct’s founders, Sofie Wahlström and Elinor Samuelsson, are dedicated and motivated social entrepreneurs who, in a short time and through innovative global collaboration, have developed thoughtful technology packaged in an app, set to launch in spring 2021. Pilot projects are already demonstrating BrightAct’s great potential to help address several of society’s challenges regarding intimate partner violence and the coordination of resources.
The juryconsists of:
Anders Norman, former CEO of Almi Skåne
Eva Engquist, former Chair of Form/Design Center
Göran Bredinger, founder of the scholarship, CEO of Dieden Group AB
Hanna Sigsjö, Executive Director Forum for Social Innovation Sweden
Åsa Skogström Feldt, Manager of IKEA Social Entrepreneurship
Facts About the Göran Bredinger Scholarship
The Göran Bredinger Scholarship was established in 2014 by Göran Bredinger, an award-winning entrepreneur and CEO of Dieden Group AB. The scholarship is a collaboration with Forum for Social Innovation Sweden will be awarded for ten years, through 2024.
Previous recipients of the grant have included Jonatan Persson from Helios Innovation, Henning Gillberg fromRepamera,Hanne Pålssonwith the Vevios personal safety alarm, Joel Holmberg with Resledaren, Kristoffer Persson with Studentvikarie, and Sara Magnusson with Experimentfabriken.