Otago entrepreneur seeks end to discrimination

Inspired by the COVID-19 tracing app, Otago-based startup Equall.app is aiming to help communities and businesses identify and stamp out discrimination.

When New Zealand went into lockdown, Otago tech entrepreneur Duncan Faulkner (pictured below) became inspired by the COVID-19 response. During that time, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement began gaining momentum across the world. According to Faulkner, the movement came forward and placed COVID-19 on the backburner.

When asked by a mentor which issue was more important, Faulkner thought about it and realised it was BLM.

Faulkner says no one has truly measured discrimination and he saw an opportunity in New Zealand’s success in handling the pandemic using the New Zealand COVID tracer app to solve this problem.

In August, Faulkner founded Equall.app, an app that provides an easy and anonymous way to safely and securely log discrimination. The data feeds into an interactive map that shows hot spots, and users can filter by types of discrimination, allowing them to see how different areas compare.

The information can also be used to lobby governments, stakeholders, and support agencies to do more in those areas. It’s aligned with Equall’s mission to drive society’s inclusivity, a global movement that Faulkner wants to start right here in New Zealand.

As more and more people create logs, Faulkner believes that company names will emerge from the data.

The monetised version of Equall acts as an anonymous reporting tool that businesses and government agencies can use to identify discrimination quickly to take positive action.

Employees scan a unique QR code that triggers a mode in the app that reports against their organisational structure.

This version of the app also has the added capability for anonymous two-way communication so that managers can engage with the person reporting it. This function allows managers to offer more support and receive enough information to tackle the problem.

As Equall begins phase one of its launch, Faulkner understands that the first challenge will be getting communities to ‘say’ something if they see or experience discrimination via the app.

“We want to start the global movement right here in New Zealand because I believe we can do it,” says Faulkner. “If we can beat COVID, we can beat discrimination, or at least we can make a big dent in it.”