The Challenge

Saving lives with an increased communication network and bombing sensors. During the height of the Syrian Civil War, it became a regular occurrence for the Syrian and Russian air force to bomb heavily populated civilian regions indiscriminately. During these bombings, innocent bystanders on the ground had little to no warning to seek shelter as bombs approached. Often they would rely on communication through cell phones with witnesses outside the city sending a text or Facebook messages.

The Solution

Gray Co-founder Ari Perez worked with a team at Hala Systems, LLC to deploy an AWS-hosted web application that powered civilian communications to provide early warnings and prevent casualties. The cloud-based web application needed to be highly available and fault-tolerant. It also required the use of the Facebook API to broadcast messages to subscribers, as well as turn on and turn off sirens physically located in the combat zone.

The Results

As documented by numerous news sources, efforts by Hala Systems to provide early warnings resulted in countless saved lives in combat zones (Source: Wired Magazine Article). On the ground results, supported proof that Non-military tech leveraging communication networks and bombing sensors can materially impact the protection of civilians. 

Areas of Expertise

• Product Management

• AWS Cloud Deployments

• PHP Development

• Human-Centered Design

• Agile Development

• DevOps

Press

Saving Lives With Tech Amid Syria’s Endless Civil War

The secret app that gives Syrian civilians minutes to escape airstrikes

** Gray Co-Founder Ari Perez supported this project while employed by Hala Systems, LLC