Dear Ripple Research friends, partners and supporters,
I have just returned from Helsingør in northeastern Denmark where I spent three days in intensive strategy development sessions with an international organization focused on public health. Over the last few months, I've been advising their teams on Infodemic Management - on how to identify, understand and respond to various false information narratives that lead to severe health risks, as well as loss of trust in public institutions.
2023 has already started with a flurry of activities and projects for our team. As we move into a new year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the amazing work we’ve accomplished and the challenges we’ve tackled over the past year. Helsingør in northeastern Denmark is best known as the setting of Shakespeare's Hamlet - the famous Kronborg Castle. The castle and the setting do provide inspiration for reflection. I couldn’t help but keep coming back to this quote from Hamlet:
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
Hamlet says these words as he reflects on the human condition and the subjectivity of our experiences, asserting that our thoughts and attitudes have the power to shape our perceptions and determine whether we view things as good or bad. You might recall, one of the central themes of the play is the uncertain and unstable nature of reality, and the extent to which our perception of the world can influence our actions and experiences. The play raises questions about the reliability of appearances and the extent to which our perceptions can be manipulated or distorted.
Through all of our work at Ripple Research, we've invested in and prioritized building systems, tools and technology that allows us to understand public perceptions at scale. Through this process, and by using unprompted, public data, we can decipher people's needs, wants, fears, desires, frustrations and ambitions. Using these insights we are able to design tailor-made solutions to address specific issues for distinct demographics.
Our team has worked tirelessly to bring cutting-edge data science solutions to a range of thematic areas, from combating misinformation in public health and politics, to addressing climate anxiety and to promote sustainable supply chains.
Here are some of the key activities and achievements we’ve accomplished together:
1. Partnership with a UN agency to combat misinformation in public health.
Members of our team are advising and delivering missions, workshops and training sessions conducted in Albania, Montenegro, Istanbul to help member states better manage health emergency risks and responses related to disease and viral outbreaks in the area of Infodemic Management.
Participation in the #Youth4Health forum in Tirana. You can watch the full discussion here.
2. Delivered research on online misinformation, Roe V. Wade, toxicity, and hate speech in the US leading up to the midterm elections.
Our insights were featured in three articles in the New York Times; Link 1, Link 2, Link 3.
Our data and findings on these topics continue to be published in leading global publications including POLITICO, Wired and The Washington Post. Read our full press highlights here.
3. Development of the "Buoyant" service to address climate anxiety experienced among millennials and Gen Z.
We advanced our internal research on climate anxiety to develop and design a digital product to help communities across the world manage this pressing mental health challenge. Buoyant is our climate adaptation solution focused on supporting sufferers, particularly younger generations, through a range of climate-related emotions be that related to grief, anger or angst.
4. Data collection, conducting ESG readiness assessments, and capacity building of SMEs in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Eswatini.
Members of the Ripple Research team are advising UN-ITC in evolving its Green and Inclusive Value Chains (GIVC) section’s efforts to design sustainable market-driven solutions for smallholder farmers and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in regions across Africa.
5. Pursued our internal research curiosities on a wide range of social, economic and political issues.
This included the Ethiopian Civil War and the Russian invasion of Ukraine to explore how social data can be used at a sophisticated level to understand global conflict narratives as they evolve in real-time. Read more on our case studies from 2022 that touch on the metaverse, misinformation surrounding monkeypox, the renting crisis and digital nomadism via our blog Track Changes.
These achievements would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our talented team, as well as the support and trust of our valued partners and clients.
The theme for our work in 2023 will be providing Hope-as-a-Service and we will embark on translating the contours of hope related to optimism, resilience, faith and community into tangible action and services. We will share more details on this theme over the coming months.
As we move forward, we remain committed to delivering impactful data science solutions that tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. Stay tuned for more updates and exciting developments from Ripple Research.
Best regards,
Ravi Sreenath - Managing Director
Ripple Research