RapidPro

Target SDGs

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Public Sector Agencies, NGOs

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

UNICEF in partnership with Nyaruka

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include Viamo, SurveyCTO, and Open Data Kit.

Regions

Worldwide

Manufacturing/Building Method

N/A

Intellectural Property Type

Open-source

User Provision Model

Accessible through RapidPro software project webpage

Distributions to Date Status

As of 2018, RapidPro has been used by more than 4.5 million users in 50 countries.

Design Specifications

RapidPro enables anybody to set up or modify a complex application without a need for a programmer or technical knowledge on creating software. It is a cloud-hosted software that can be accessed online or hosted on a local server and uses SMS, voice, USSD, and social media to collect and send data.

Key features include a flow builder which allows for setting up of interactions needed with users, a messages menu which tracks the messages that a user has sent, contacts for tracking people one is communicating with, campaign tool for setting up special interactions for selected dates, and triggers used to start flows based on user action or schedules.

An analytics feature helps to analyze the data that is received and present it in an easy to understand format. The messages sent or received for each contact can be easily accessed.

Flows use logic to build interactions that are triggered depending on schedule or input from messages, using a simple drag and drop interface. As an open-source software RapidPro can be installed on a server and connected to a communication gateway for SMS, USSD, and voice calls, or one can use the service from where it is hosted by UNICEF or Nyaruka.

It also has an API to allow integrating a user's own solutions or building on top of the data collected using RapidPro.

Technical Support

Nyaruka offers a knowledge base available to anyone using RapidPro

Replacement Components

N/A

Lifecycle

N/A

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

Manufacturer specified performance targets include:

• Building a mobile service through an easy-to-use interface.
• Reaching users in any language using SMS, voice, social media, and more.
• Easy scaling of users from just a few to millions.
• Easy integration with external systems using an API.
• Simplified analytics to help one understand the data.

Vetted Performance Status

In Zambia, RapidPro was used to facilitate communication between clinics and community health workers to significantly reduce the amount of time between collecting blood samples for early infant diagnosis for HIV and the return of test results to the originating health facility.

Safety

N/A

Complementary Technical Systems

N/A

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

N/A

Evaluation methods

Tested and evaluated by partner organizations.

Other Information

A video explaining how RapidPro works.

Application of RapidPro in Ethiopia.