SpeakSafe

Written By Frontier Tech Hub

THE QUESTION

Can solar-powered hardware with multilingual software help vulnerable migrant populations better understand and communicate their medical needs?

LOCATION: TBD
SECTOR: Humanitarian
TECH: AI, Solar
TIMELINE: January 2026 - Present
PARTNERS: TBD

 

Migrants and displaced people in humanitarian settings often speak languages that frontline health and social service providers do not, creating serious barriers to accessing emergency care, protection services, and reporting abuse. This pilot will introduce solar-powered, offline translation devices in health facilities and shelters, enabling real-time communication between migrants and staff as a sustainable alternative to costly interpreter services.

 
 

Our learnings and stories so far

This pilot hasn’t started to publish yet, but there are plenty of other blogs to read below. Check back soon!

Blog
The little maker taking on global supply chains
The little maker taking on global supply chains

The Hub's funding and proof of concept now allows us to unlock reshoring and localised manufacturing for organisations and companies of unlimited size.

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We are looking for an AI adoption partner
We are looking for an AI adoption partner

Call for AI expertise to help teams find, build and test tools that add real value to their work. Applications close on 28th October 2026.

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Rediscovering the wisdom of the past
Rediscovering the wisdom of the past

The Cool by Design pilot is exploring whether passive cooling techniques can help shape shelter that is adapted to a hotter future.

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Justice in the fields
Justice in the fields

Exploring shared challenges around widening access to justice, from the courts of East Africa to the fields of Colombia.

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Mexico Safe Online is looking for a Spanish–English translator and interpreter
Mexico Safe Online is looking for a Spanish–English translator and interpreter

Call for a translator and interpreter to help Mexico Safe Online work across two languages. Applications close on 16th October.

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One hill down, a forest of hills to go
One hill down, a forest of hills to go

Three years after its FT Hub pilot, Oko Forests is glad it stopped to read the map.

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Mexico Safe Online is looking for a Child Protection and Technology Partner
Mexico Safe Online is looking for a Child Protection and Technology Partner

Call for Mexico-based expertise to help shape a new initiative. Applications close on 9th October.

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Changing the user, not the technology
Changing the user, not the technology

When building a tool to improve access to justice for women in Tanzania our biggest successes came from more than just improving the AI architecture.

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Mexico Safe Online is looking for a local market consultant
Mexico Safe Online is looking for a local market consultant

Call for Mexico-based expertise to help shape a new initiative. Applications close on 9th October.

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What the Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice taught us about testing tech for justice
What the Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice taught us about testing tech for justice

Reflecting on insights from our Access to Justice Learning Brief with Sara Wahedi at the Oxford Institute of Technology and Justice.

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Could designing for the "furthest first" close Tanzania's justice gap?
Could designing for the "furthest first" close Tanzania's justice gap?

When a woman in Tanzania goes to the police, she will often be told that the problem she’s facing, whether it is around inheritance or gender-based violence, is a domestic issue. Therefore, it’s not something for them to intervene in. That response is legally wrong, but unless she knows that, it’s the last she’ll hear on the matter.

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The solutions that already exist
The solutions that already exist

12 September is the International Day for South-South Cooperation. This year's theme, Solidarity Rising, rests on the observation that proven solutions already exist across the Global South, but too often they stay fragmented and hard to reach.

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Making climate risk investable: our first portfolio learnings
Making climate risk investable: our first portfolio learnings

A new film and report sharing what we learned from our first climate adaptation portfolio. Can frontier technologies turn climate risk into something someone is willing to pay for?

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What does international development look like in the Age of AI?
What does international development look like in the Age of AI?

As we end our AI mini-series, join us for a Field Trip to the Future.

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Frontier Tech Hub

The Frontier Tech Hub works with UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff and global partners to understand the potential for innovative tech in the development context, and then test and scale their ideas.

https://www.frontiertechhub.org/
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