Blues is a fully remote organization, but each year, our entire team gathers to reflect on our progress, align on our vision, and set our strategy for the coming year. This year, our theme was “Blues for Good.” We explored the future of the Blues ecosystem, discussing how increased connectivity can drive sustainability on a global scale. We heard inspiring stories from customers whose Blues-powered solutions are transforming traditional industries and advancing sustainable development. And together, we collaborated to make a meaningful difference for those in need, reinforcing our commitment to a positive impact.
Our Customer Champions
It’s essential to keep our focus on those we’re building Blues for: our customers. Seeing how Blues is enabling our customers is truly inspiring, and this year, we invited Arribada to share their experiences with our team. They spoke about how they’ve implemented Blues, the challenges they’ve encountered along the way, and their next steps on their development journeys.
Arribada tracks aid packages using Blues
Arribada develops open and accessible technology for wildlife, people and the planet, driving down cost and scaling up access to impact-driven tools and solutions to solve conservation and environmental challenges.
The team at Arribada shared with the team their work with UNICEF and the world food program on Project GeoSeals. The aim of Project GeoSeals is to generate real-time humanitarian aid stock level alerts for aid agencies seeking to understand and manage their supply chains cost effectively. To do this they provisioned each location where aid packages are stored with a ‘GeoHub’ which includes a RFID scanner that scans each box as it enters the premises, and transmits this data back to the agency using a Blues Notecard so that agencies like UNICEF always have up to date information on supply levels and can ensure stock is sent to the right locations.
Alex Bucknall, Senior Engineer at Arribada shared, “Blues has helped us accelerate our software solution; being able to move from device to cloud instantly is a huge advantage for us developing these systems. The amount of work required to go from a device sending data over cellular to a centralized server and then across to a dashboard, in a country as remote as Ethiopia would have been incredibly hard.”
Giving back Globally
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Safecast citizen science group has applied its expertise to create a radiation monitoring network around Ukraine’s nuclear power plants that are threatened by military activity. Safecast’s Radnote device contains a solar panel, power cell, and rechargeable batteries, which provide reliable stand-alone power for a Geiger counter even under emergency conditions. The radiation data goes to a power-efficient Blues Notecard, which uploads it in real time at intervals that can be adjusted to either conserve power or track fast-changing radiation levels.
Blues is deeply connected to this cause having designed and built the Radnote alongside Safecast, at this year’s summit, we partnered with Helping Hands to learn about the challenges faced by people in Ukraine and assembled care packages to support those directly impacted by the crisis.
Working Toward the Future of Blues
Digital transformation is driving a more sustainable world by enabling smarter, data-driven decisions across industries. We look forward to a future of intelligent machines, a generation of connected products that seamlessly integrate hardware, software, and services. At Blues we aim to give product builders access to data to streamline operational efficiency, improve business value, and unlock new revenue streams.
Intelligent machines will allow for real-time monitoring and optimization of resources, leading to reduced energy consumption, lower emissions, and minimized waste. From smart cities that manage energy usage efficiently to agricultural solutions that conserve water and increase crop yields, these insights are helping industries operate more sustainably.