Since 2018, Daniel García Ibáñez manages the virtual campus and courses in emergency response, security management and logistics management at La Cooperativa Humanitaria. Prior to that the informatica professor, worked for years at MSF (Doctors Without Borders) in Mali, DR Congo, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Syria, among other places. Now he is the Logistics Solutions Lead at Solvoz. He leads a team with La Cooperativa Humanitaria in Spain to set up structures for Solvoz platform for responsible procurement in aid.

Impact through technology, based on field and demand

The cooperation of Solvoz with La Cooperativa was obvious after Claire Barnhoorn met Daniel Garcia Ibañez in Brussels late 2018 at the 25 year celebration of NOHA (Network on Humanitarian Action). They immediately found each other in a drive for impact through technology. Both strongly agreed on field experience and a demand-driven perspective as being key for success. Then and there Claire described the Solvoz goal, even before Solvoz officially existed. 

Still it was not until COVID-19 that La Cooperativa could contribute their technological skills and field experience to the shared cause. ‘As we quickly scaled up after the release of the Solvoz-prototype to a pilot for COVID-19 response, we wanted to collaborate with a network of committed individuals,’ says Claire Barnhoorn from Solvoz. Behind the scenes of the procurement platform, Daniel is currently working with several aid workers from La Cooperativa. Both database skills and field knowledge are needed for the task. ‘We are contributing to defining the foundations of the platform, both in terms of data architecture and the humanitarian use-cases and its respective possible solutions.’.

What makes Solvoz different, distinctive or perhaps better? 

‘When Claire first explained Solvoz to me, it was still an embryonic idea in very abstract terms. Since then, the idea has taken shape and become much more tangible. Now, working with its different bits and pieces, it looks completely different to us: full of possibilities and with strong potential.

The power of Solvoz lies in making quite complex things and processes easy and accessible. Like providing a set of standardised but customisable solutions for an Emergency Room in a hospital. But I also mean preparing a procurement tender to acquire some of the components needed for that Emergency Room.’. Several things make Solvoz distinctive:

• the humanitarian drive applied to an e-commerce kind-of solution; 
• the scalability of its catalogue and its level of customisation; 
• the way it will guide users to their desired solution based on their needs; 
• and furthermore, the control through the provider selection process, making available and accessible tendering procedures which are transparent, robust and fully traceable. 

All of this in a box.

What convinced you to contribute/work with this platform?

‘From the La Cooperativa Humanitaria’s point of view, it is the perfect occasion to collaborate with AidInnov (the foundation working with Solvoz) and Solvoz, to expand our expertise in technologically innovative projects while we fulfill our vision. 

Personally and professionally, it is an opportunity to be engaged in a super interesting and innovative project, linking three fields for which I am passionate about: humanitarian action, logistics and information technology.’.