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Journalism of Courage
On a busy Monday morning, Shivajinagar in Pune received a safety score of 8.2 out of 10, while Baner scored a moderate 5.2 out of 10. The grades are from a safety audit conducted by the crowd-sourced My SafetiPin app, an initiative of Safetipin — a social organisation dedicated to making public spaces “safer and more inclusive for women”. Safetipin aims to increase its footprint in Pune by tying up with NGOs and various social and academic organisations.
“Over the past few years, we have carried out a city-wide safety audit in Pune, with our findings incorporated into urban planning and infrastructure development. Safetipin is also linked with the India Urban Data Exchange, an open-source software platform that allows for secure and verified data exchanges among city departments, government agencies, citizens, and the private sector. Pune’s safety data was the first to be added, marking a significant step toward open, data-driven urban ecosystems,” explains Kalpana Viswanath, one of the founders of Safetipin. The organisation operates by collecting data uploaded by users based on their personal experiences in various spaces. This assessment checklist or safety audit evaluates parameters such as ‘Lighting’ (availability of sufficient light), ‘Walkpath’ (visibility in all directions), and ‘Public Transport Availability’.
Data from the Safety Audit, which can be done on three mobile phone applications – My Safetipin, which is available on the App Store and Google Play Store; Safetipin Nite and Safetipin Site – are presented to authorities, including the Police Commissioner of Pune, and other stakeholders, along with recommendations for enhancing safety.
“We also generate a safety score based on the data we collected, and upload it on the My Safetipin app for users to make safe and informed decisions about their mobility,” states the website of the app.
In Delhi, where the app boasts a larger user base, the organisation collaborated with the government to map more than 7,000 km of roads. This led to interventions by the authorities who took up measures to improve street lighting, CCTV installation, and last-mile connectivity to strengthen women’s safety.
“In Bogota, the capital of Colombia, the organisation conducted safety audits in over 17,000 locations in association with the city government. The findings led to upgrades in street lighting, pedestrian infrastructure, and public transport, setting a global example of data-driven urban safety,” says Viswanath.
“All cities in India have areas with poor infrastructure and poor lighting, which compromise the safety of users. The data that we generate helps cities enhance their infrastructure — walking paths and public transport infrastructure, among other improvements. Thus, we build streets that are for people and not only for cars,” says Viswanath.
