BitSource has gained national attention for its “Coal to Code” mentality that has taken the transferrable skills of coal miners and turned them into world-class computer coders.
A proud East Kentucky partner of Shaping Our Appalachian Region, Inc. (SOAR), BitSource redesigned the SOAR website, and, in 2016, helped create SOAR.network, an innovative platform to allow people and organizations from across the region to share ideas and network with one another.
Another SOAR-inspired idea came to fruition in 2017 when a group of people that participated in the SOAR/MIT Hackathon in 2016 at the Center for Rural Development in Somerset thought of a plan to create a mobile application to combat the drug epidemic in Appalachia Kentucky.
Those conversations led to the creation of ODSAVE, an application connecting first responders who can administer naloxone to people who are experiencing an overdose. The application is currently in the beta phase and is being tested in partnership with the City of Pikeville. BitSource will take the product to market in 2018.
BitSource, who currently serves more than 40 clients, is also working with California tech company, Speedgague, on an app that tracks speeding. It is for drivers and it’s a win-win for them – it’s for the driver’s benefit, and the driver is in control. The app has the following features:
· Enables drivers to track their safety performance
· Checks vehicle speed against posted speed limits everywhere the driver operates
· Allows drivers to demonstrate their performance to prospective employers
· Allows employers to verify a driver’s performance)
· Enables safe drivers to show that they care about safety
· Our expectation is that this will help those drivers to land jobs
Another innovative software solution BitSource has been a part of in 2017 is the Farmacy program in Letcher County. The program is a collaboration of Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation, Well Care Health Plans, and the Letcher County Farmers Market. The software is aimed to promote healthy lifestyles. It allows clinicians to input measurements for body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, weight, age, height, and other measurements in a system. The resulting data is used to measure the success of the program over time and relay data to funding partners for research.