BRCK: Ushahidi’s Kickstarter Project Designed To Fix Africa’s Internet Issues

Leave it to the Kenyans to figure out a way to connect to the internet no matter where you are and without electricity. Currently attempting to raise a whooping US$125 000 on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, BRCK is an Ushahidi initiative that hopes to solve internet connectivity issues in remote areas.

The device is “the easiest, most reliable way to connect to the internet, anywhere in the world, even when you don’t have electricity,” says open source information and mapping company Ushahidi. According to the team, the gadget, which could be described as mobile router, works as a backup generator for the internet.

The idea seems to have come out of the problems faced by Kenyan-based Ushahidi and the unreliable internet connection in remote locations. “We realized that what we really needed was a smart, rugged device that could connect to the internet any way it could, hop from one network to another, create a hotspot for multiple devices, while plugged in or running on battery power,” says the organisation.