Frequently Asked Questions: Nyby for corona emergency preparedness

See examples of strategy for voluntary work in municipalities in connection Covid-19, and how Nyby is used in this context: Hemsedal Municipality and Frogn Municipality.

See how Malvik Municipality informs their inhabitants about Nyby.

There is always a balance between safety and simplicity. We have login with SMS, which works well, is evaluated and accepted by e.g. Helsingborg and Eskilstuna Municipality.

The municipality itself decides what must be the criteria for approval. There are different practices in the municipalities – we have many examples and help with that when doing setup.

For example, Larvik Municipality has made a complete digital approval.

A lot municipalities want this, and do not approve the volunteer until a declaration of confidentiality is filled out.

See how Flekkefjord Municipality (actually a website, exported to PDF only as an example) and Helsingborg Municipality has done this.

Larvik Municipality has made a complete digital approval for its volunteers.

The municipality selects who is responsible for qualifying the resources and what services you want to organize.

Nyby is now particularly used for recruitment of residents as a resource (by the municipality, or e.g. the Red Cross as a resource manager) and recruitment of unemployed health personnel (with e.g. the municipality as a resource manager).

With Nyby you can connect the different needs and resources groups in this way.

Mobile pay/transfer from receiver to store. The person who collects and delivers the goods of a resident in the quarantine or isolation, calls / gives a signal that the person is in place with the goods and places them outside the door. It is very important that physical meetings are avoided.

Østre Toten Municipality has a really good practice on this, see how here.

Below, Hemsedal Municipality has written down how they do this:

«Hemsedal has created a group, «Order groceries», in which stores joins (the pharmacy has its own ordering at their website) meaning residents can make direct contact with the stores. The store that takes the assignment communicate via private messaging, in the Nyby app, with the person who needs help. If employees at the store cannot deliver themselves, they place a request in the channel "Ask for help regarding home delivery from resident" (grocery and pharmacy in Hemsedal). Volunteers come and collect ready-filled grocery bags, drive off, calls when at the delivery point and leaves. The stores arrange payment of goods via mobile pay/transfer or by other means. Works super well».

Create campaigns that can be shared with your network and local Facebook groups.

Also, please visit: How to get started at day one.

Normally, you must be member of an organization to use Nyby. This is for control and to quality assure those who help. Nevertheless, during the corona outbreak, some municipalities have chosen to have open groups of citizens where they can help each other.

If you are an individual, you must be a member of an organization or team. However, if you work in the local government or in an organization, contact your municipality to find out if you can access the app.

It's a great opportunity for recruitment. Many of these groups have a lot of involvement with many who want to help and support societal volunteerism. Feel free to post one or more campaigns there.

Get more info on the page how to get started and in Nyby's help center.

As a private individual you have complete control over your own data. Nyby are included in data processing agreements with the respective local government or organisation.

Comment from Torgeir Waterhouse, former director of IKT Norge (ICT-Norway) and now partner in the consulting company Otte: “We also ask that local governments must be aware of the rules for personal data when requesting information and continuously assess when and how they have the capacity to handle data processing in in accordance with the regulations during or after this crisis. At some point, we will move from the crisis management phase to a phase where it will also be necessary with a cleanup regarding the data”.

We ask for understanding that errors can occur, this is a time of crisis: We prioritize speed and to assist local governments on a large scale, therefore we ask for understanding that errors can occur. Quick feedback allows us to continue with high speed in the right direction at all times. We have been working on tackling the care crisis and the lack of resources since 2015, but have now had a similar care crisis in our lap in just a couple of weeks!

The “corona agreement” applies to use of Nyby for work with corona management in 2020. During the period you can also use Nyby for anything else you want, but support in addition to assistance to the corona is separately agreed in an own agreement. We help you get started regardless of formal agreement, oral acceptance is ok.

The agreement covers all of the municipality's services, as well as associations and teams. Private companies that support the municipality in this context are also included. The agreement includes of course the data processing agreement etc., the municipality owns the data.

We just need an acceptance from you, and we connect you with one of our resources. Several municipalities have started in less than 12 hours. The goal is, of course, as soon as possible, but we are experiencing high demand which can affect how quick you get started.

If you are stuck, check out our help center or get in touch with your Nyby contact or contact us here.

Nyby is a collaboration tool developed precisely for the mobilisation of available resources for important welfare tasks, within a secure framework, and adapted to the public sector. Used both for citizen involvement and for relocation of own resources and internal staffing. Nyby is already in use in approximately 40 municipalities and organisations in Norway and Sweden, and we have developed the platform since 2015. Nyby is developed to mobilize available resources for the aging population, but are now also in use in employment services, voluntary services, home services, institutions. Read more here.