Sonaar Luthra: Meet the Water Canary

Translator: Liridon Shala Reviewer: Amantia Gjikondi

Cholera was reported in Haiti

Kolera ishte raportuar ne Haiti

for the first time in over 50 years

per her te pare ne 50 vitet e fundit

last October.

tetorin e kaluar.

There was no way to predict

Nuk kishte asnje menyrae per ta predikuar

how far it would spread through water supplies

se sa gjat do te shprendahej permes furnizuesve te ujit

and how bad the situation would get.

dhe se sa keq do te shkonte situata.

And not knowing where help was needed

Dhe mosditja se kur do te kishin nevoj per ndihme

always ensured that help was in short supply

gjithmone duke siguruar se ndihma ishte ne mungese

in the areas that needed it most.

ne vende te cilat duhet me se shumti.

We've gotten good at predicting and preparing for storms

Ne arritem nje predikim te mire ne pergatitjen per stuhite

before they take innocent lives

perpara se te marrin jet njerezish

and cause irreversible damage,

dhe te shkaktojne deme te mdha,

but we still can't do that with water,

mirepo akoma nuk mund ta bejme kete me ujin,

and here's why.

dhe do ja u spjegoj arsyen.

Right now, if you want to test water in the field,

Tani, nese deshiron ta testosh ujin ne fushe,

you need a trained technician,

ju duhet nje teknik i trajnuar,

expensive equipment like this,

paisje te shtrenjta sikurse kjo,

and you have to wait about a day

dhe ju duhet te prisni rreth nje dite

for chemical reactions to take place and provide results.

per nje permbledhje kimike dhe per sjellje te rezultateve.

It's too slow

Eshte shum e ngadalte

to get a picture of conditions on the ground

per te planifkuar rreth kushteve ne natyre

before they change,

perpara se ato te ndryshojne,

too expensive to implement

shume e shtrenjte per ta implementuar

in all the places that require testing.

ne te gjitha vendet qe kane nevoje per testime.

And it ignores the fact that, in the meanwhile,

Dhe e anashkalon faktin se, nderkohe,

people still need to drink water.

njerezve akoma ju nevoitet uje per te pire.

Most of the information that we collected on the cholera outbreak

Shumicen e informacioneve qe ne mbledhim ne trazirat e koleres

didn't come from testing water;

nuk erdhen nga testimet e ujit;

it came from forms like this,

erdhen nga format sikurse kjo,

which documented all the people

te cilat dokumentuan te gjithe njerezit

we failed to help.

qe deshtuam ti ndihmojme.

Countless lives have been saved

Pak jete jane shpetuar

by canaries in coalmines --

nga kanarit ne Koalmines --

a simple and invaluable way

nje metode e thjesht e pa-vlere

for miners to know whether they're safe.

per ta ditur se jane te sigurt

I've been inspired by that simplicity as I've been working on this problem

Jam inspiruar nga kjo thjeshtesi gjat gjith kohes qe kam qen duke punuar me kete problem

with some of the most hardworking and brilliant people I've ever known.

me disa prej njerezve me punetor dhe me te shkelqyer qe kam njohur.

We think there's a simpler solution to this problem --

Ne mendojme se ka nje zgjidhje shum te thjesht te ketij problemi --

one that can be used

njera e cila mund te perdoret

by people who face conditions like this everyday.

me njerez te cilet jane perballur me te njejtat kushte cdo dite.

It's in its early stages,

Eshte ne kohet e pare te tyre,

but this is what it looks like right now.

mirepo kjo eshte ashty sesi duket per momentin.

We call it the Water Canary.

Ne e quajme kete kanarina me uje.

It's a fast, cheap device

Eshte e shpejt, dhe paisje e lire

that answers an important question:

e cila i pergjigjet nje pyetjeje te rendesishme:

Is this water contaminated?

A eshte ky uje i kontaminuar?

It doesn't require any special training.

Nuk i nevojitet ndonje trajnim i vecante.

And instead of waiting for chemical reactions to take place,

Dhe ne vend qe te presim per reaksione kimike qe te zejne vende,

it uses light.

perdor driten.

That means there's no waiting

Qe do te thot se nuk ka ndonje pritje

for chemical reactions to take place,

per reaksione kimike qe te zejne vend,

no need to use reagents that can run out

nuk i nevojiten reagjent te cilet mund te mungojne

and no need to be an expert

dhe nuk ka nevoj per te qene ekspert

to get actionable information.

per te marre informacione te nevojshme.

To test water, you simply insert a sample

Per te testuar ujin, ju thjesht vendosni nje ekzemplare

and, within seconds,

dhe per nje sekond,

it either displays a red light, indicating contaminated water,

ose shfaq nje drite te kuqe, qe indikon ujin e kontaminuar,

or a green light, indicating the sample is safe.

ose nje te gjelbert, e cila thot se eshte uje i sigurte.

This will make it possible

Kjo do ta beje te mundur

for anyone to collect life-saving information

per secilin qe mbledh informacione per mbrojtjen e njerezve

and to monitor water quality conditions as they unfold.

dhe per te monitoruar kualitetin dhe kushtet e ujit gjersa ato nuk vershojne.

We're also, on top of that,

Ne gjithashtu jemi, ne krye te saj,

integrating wireless networking

duke integruar rrjetat e internetit pa tela

into an affordable device

ne nje paisje te mundeshme

with GPS and GSM.

me GPS dhe GMS. (satelit dhe rrjet i telefonis mobile).

What that means is that each reading can be automatically transmitted to servers

Cfare kjo do te thot eshte qe secili lexim do te transferohet automatikish ne server

to be mapped in real time.

per tu hartuar ne kohen reale.

With enough users,

Me shfrytezues te mjaftueshem,

maps like this will make it possible

hartat sikurse kjo do te bejne te mundshme

to take preventive action,

per te marre veprime te parashikuara,

containing hazards before they turn into emergencies

per mbajtjen e demeve perpara se te kthehen ne emergjente

that take years to recover from.

qe merr vite per ta mbuluar ate.

And then, instead of taking days

Dhe pastaj, ne vend te marrjes se diteve

to disseminate this information to the people who need it most,

per te diseminuar keto informacione per njerezve te cilet ju duhen,

it can happen automatically.

mund te ndodhe automatikisht.

We've seen how distributed networks,

Kemi pare se si rrjetet e shperndara,

big data and information

te dhenat e medha dhe informacionet

can transform society.

mund ta transformojne shoqerine.

I think it's time for us to apply them to water.

Mendoj se eshte koha tani qe ti aplikojme ato ne uje.

Our goal over the next year is to get Water Canary ready for the field

Synimi yne per vitin e ardhshem eshte qe te marrim kanarinen e ujit per ne fushe

and to open-source the hardware

dhe per ta lene hardverin e hapur

so that anyone can contribute to the development and the evaluation,

qe secili mund te kontriboj ne zhvillimin dhe evulumin,

so we can tackle this problem together.

qe mund ta atakojme kete problem.

Thank you.

Faliminderit.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)