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July 19, 2023
5 min read

Graphs for Good: Transforming Refugee Support with UAWelcome’s Revolutionary Project

Andrew

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In a world where technology continually evolves, one innovative project stands out as a beacon of hope—UAWelcome. Harnessing the power of graphs for good, UAWelcome is revolutionizing the way refugees are supported as they start a new life in the US. With a profound commitment to making a positive impact, UAWelcome’s graph-based approach has streamlined refugee assistance, demonstrating the remarkable potential of technology when driven by compassion and empathy.

The Plight of Refugees: A Call to Action

As the crisis in Ukraine unfolded, the world was shaken by the displacement and suffering of thousands of refugees. Witnessing the heartbreak on social media, a group of compassionate individuals felt compelled to act. The founding members of UAWelcome were determined to channel their expertise and resources to help these refugees in a meaningful way.

The Challenge: Coordinating and Streamlining Refugee Support

With a strong desire to assist, many individuals offered their support, but coordinating resources and providing targeted aid presented a significant challenge. The diverse tasks involved—ranging from finding shelter and paperwork assistance to school enrollment—required a unified and streamlined platform to match refugees with the right volunteers.

Enter Graph Technology: The Game-Changing Solution

To address these complex challenges, UAWelcome turned to the power of graphs, explained in this video. Graphs inherently represent interconnectedness, making them an ideal tool for modeling the intricate relationships involved in refugee support. Leveraging the TigerGraph graph database, UAWelcome embarked on building a human-in-the-loop ETL process, creating a unique crowdsourcing platform that connects refugees with willing helpers.

The Graph-Based Framework: A Humanitarian Masterpiece

At the heart of UAWelcome’s success lies a graph-based framework that seamlessly connects refugees and volunteers. On the platform’s frontend, refugees and volunteers fill out simple forms, detailing their needs or the support they can provide. The data is then exported into CSV format and stored within the TigerGraph database.

Using graph algorithms, UAWelcome intelligently matches refugees with suitable hosts or volunteers offering specific services. This intelligent matching maximizes individual experiences and optimizes overall efficiency, ensuring that those in need receive tailored assistance. Volunteers can access task-specific applications, streamlining the support process and reducing cognitive overload.

Overcoming Challenges: A Journey of Resilience

The task of supporting refugee families involves a myriad of diverse and specific tasks. Volunteers have varying schedules and technical abilities, necessitating asynchronous and automated coordination. UAWelcome’s graph-based architecture organizes this complex process, allowing seamless handoffs between volunteers and ensuring efficient support across multiple tasks.

The Impact: Empowering Humanity

UAWelcome’s success has been nothing short of awe-inspiring. Over a thousand individuals have already participated, offering hope to those who need it the most. The graph-based platform, built with simplicity and scalability in mind, has the potential to become a valuable tool for volunteer organizations worldwide, fostering collaboration and problem-solving on a global scale.

A Future of Possibilities

UAWelcome’s groundbreaking project is a testament to the potential of graphs for good. By combining technology with compassion and empathy, this initiative has transformed refugee support, demonstrating that innovation and benevolence can coexist harmoniously.

As we look towards the future, UAWelcome’s graph-based framework offers a blueprint for addressing various humanitarian challenges. By leveraging graph technology, we can foster positive change, empower communities, and create a world where technology becomes a force for good.

In a world often inundated with problems, UAWelcome’s story inspires us to embrace technology responsibly and ethically, empowering us all to make a difference. With the power of graphs at our fingertips, let us continue this journey of compassion, solidarity, and hope, using technology as a force to uplift humanity and foster a more inclusive and equitable world.

About the Author

Andrew

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Dr. Jay Yu

Dr. Jay Yu | VP of Product and Innovation

Dr. Jay Yu is the VP of Product and Innovation at TigerGraph, responsible for driving product strategy and roadmap, as well as fostering innovation in graph database engine and graph solutions. He is a proven hands-on full-stack innovator, strategic thinker, leader, and evangelist for new technology and product, with 25+ years of industry experience ranging from highly scalable distributed database engine company (Teradata), B2B e-commerce services startup, to consumer-facing financial applications company (Intuit). He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where he specialized in large scale parallel database systems

Todd Blaschka | COO

Todd Blaschka is a veteran in the enterprise software industry. He is passionate about creating entirely new segments in data, analytics and AI, with the distinction of establishing graph analytics as a Gartner Top 10 Data & Analytics trend two years in a row. By fervently focusing on critical industry and customer challenges, the companies under Todd's leadership have delivered significant quantifiable results to the largest brands in the world through channel and solution sales approach. Prior to TigerGraph, Todd led go to market and customer experience functions at Clustrix (acquired by MariaDB), Dataguise and IBM.