Problem addressed
In recent years, crises such as the Covid pandemic, conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine, and rising inflation have significantly impacted the world, leading to growing poverty. In 2022, 95.3 million people in Europe were at risk of poverty or social exclusion [Eurostat]. Many vulnerable individuals struggle to access essential services like healthcare, food and social support, worsening their conditions. One of the main reasons is the lack of information : in France, four out of ten people do not claim social benefits because they don’t know who to turn to or wherever they might be entitled to (DRES, 2021.). This issue also affects professionals and volunteers, who face challenges in providing accurate guidance without proper tools. As a result, 69% of solidarity workers have had to deny access to a service, and 54% of beneficiaries have experienced being misdirected, leading to frustration and a loss of trust in social services [Solinum Social Impact Assessment 2021].
The need for information is also critical for public and non-profit actors: to launch effective anti-poverty policies or programs, they often rely on qualitative data, leading to delays in response. Our NGO and public partners report difficulties in accessing reliable, continuously updated data in the medico-social sector. The lack of robust databases on solidarity topics hampers organizations in coordinating efforts, making it difficult to understand which organizations are active and how they operate. This ultimately leads to a loss in effectiveness in a sector where resources are limited and valuable.
Innovative solution
In 2017, Solinum launched Soliguide: a fast, comprehensive, and user-friendly platform that references all aids and services, ranging from food and hygiene access to legal aid and job training. Soliguide stands as the first free, all-encompassing, and up-to-date digital platform for social information in France, enabling vulnerable people to connect with the service they need. Accessible through various channels - a website, a mobile application, a widget for easy integration into other websites, and a chat function accessible directly through WhatsApp or text messaging - and available in 8 languages, Soliguide is designed to ensure as many people as possible can access and use the platform, from vulnerable people to their support providers. Additionally, our API allows real-time synchronization of our database with our referenced partners, optimizing our respective resources and multiplying our social impact. More than 87 000 services are referenced, allowing more than 3,7 millions research in 2023 in France.
The data collected on Soliguide – distribution of services across a territory, number of searches by category and its evolution, percentage of search by language - has led us to the creation of Solidata in 2023, an impactful tool using these data for analysis. Through interactive dashboards, it provides to institutional and non-profit stakeholders a robust framework for analyzing data related to the use and impact of social services. By tracking usage patterns and services needs of vulnerable populations, Solidata allows our partners to identify gaps in service provision and areas for improvement, fostering the collaboration between actors. This data-driven approach enables us to generate comprehensive dashboards, informing policy decisions and strategic planning.
Key results and benefits
Since its launch, Soliguide has significantly impacted social service accessibility in France :
- Over 3,700,000 searches performed on Soliguide.fr in 2023
- More than 87,000 services mapped
- Present in 34 departments across France
- Engaged with over 10,000 organizations to keep information current and reliable
Solidata enables:
- Optimizing costs related to studies and diagnostics for simple needs;
- Reducing the time between the detection of an issue and the implementation of a solution;
- Facilitating dialogue and coordination between institutions (local governments, the state) and associations through objective and shared data.
Potential for mainstreaming
Soliguide and Solidata can be implemented in other European regions: from September 2024, Soliguide will also be available in 3 Catalan provinces (Girona, Lleida and Barcelona) and in Andorra thanks to the European project Solidigital (funded by the Interreg POCTEFA program).
Solinum provides a proven implementation methodology to partners interested in implementing Soliguide and then Solidata in their region.