End 2020, the world bank indicated that the number of people living on less than $1.90 a day could rise from 9.1% to 9.4% of the world's population. At the same time, technological and digital transformations continue to grow and the words high-tech, artificial intelligence and chatbot have become part of our daily lives.

What if it were possible to reconcile technological development with social impact?

The digital transformation of society may prove to be a real lever for development and inclusion for any organisation that wants to have a positive impact on people.

In particular, this is the mission of isahitan example of a French start-up socially responsible outsourcinga "Tech for Good" that bridges the gap between artificial intelligence and human intelligence, founded by Isabelle Mashola and Philippe Coup-Jambet.

Training women in digital for create jobs and reduce povertyThis was the idea behind the concept of this crowdsourcing platform, which was launched by the two entrepreneurs in 2017.

Isahit enables its clients to outsource short, repetitive tasks that cannot be automated, such as internet searches, moderation of customer reviews, training chatbots in voice recognition, data processing, etc. In concrete terms, this consists of integrating a customer project into the isahit platform, which is then automatically divided into digital tasks that are distributed to different workers around the world.

A "Human in the loop" approach

The start-up, which aims at social inclusion through employment, has the particularity of offering work to young people from underprivileged backgrounds, mainly in emerging or developing countries, such as Togo, Comoros, Venezuela or Malaysia.

In 2021, isahit brings together an international community of over 1,000 self-employed people, women with an average age of 26These are called "HITers", after "HIT", "Human Intelligent Task".

Often motivated by a professional project, the financing of their studies or the desire to provide financial support to their family, 59% of HITers earn less than 5 euros per day before joining the company. isahit's objective is therefore to support these young women so that they as well as a digital skills development. Since the beginning of the isahit adventure, 450 alumni have been accompanied, and 8,298 hours of training dispensed.

In addition, these workers are only allowed to stay with isahit for three years, which allows them to to move into a new activity building on the funding acquired and skills developed.

A business model consistent with the objectives of sustainable development

Of the total amount paid by the isahit client, 60% goes to " HITer ", 35% to the company itself and 5% to the "Isahit Help" programme, which aims to find local partners to support workers in their start-up with isahit, train young women in digital skills and facilitate their access to the internet.

Thus, through its business model and ecosystem, isahit contributes to :

• reduce poverty in the world, since by working for isahit, the " HITer " receive an additional income 5 times higher than the local minimum wage;
• provide decent work to over a thousand young women worldwide, with the aim of providing work opportunities to over 10,000 people within four years;
• enable a disadvantaged population to becoming independent through training and digital work.

For clients who wish to outsource their digital projects and have a positive impact in all four corners of the world, it is a responsible and costed solution. Indeed, key indicators on the social impact of their project are provided on request.

Isahit also employs people in France. The start-up thus provides a concrete response to companies' desire for data residency, i.e. the guarantee that their data will remain in France to be processed there.

By working for a more ethical digital world, isahit is involved in achieving several sustainable development goals set out by the UN No poverty; decent work and economic growth; reduced inequality.

An inspiring start-up that has successfully transitioned an outsourcing platform from a traditional, non-virtuous business model to a profitable business model with positive externalities.

Reducing global poverty by using technology as a means to create opportunities for skilled unemployed people is now possible.

The "Tech for Good" trend, which uses digital technology as a powerful lever for inclusion, has been launched and is expected to grow in France and internationally.

Click here to read the publication in the Observatoire du Grand Rebond