THE ITBANK IDEA DESK
Find something worth building. Practical starting points for people who want to solve problems in Africa and around the world.
Explore 54 ideas ↓54 ideas
Explore a clear maintenance record for a system that has already been professionally designed and approved. Help a responsible operator remember tasks and retain service records without issuing engineering or water-safety advice.
For: Building facilities teams, community centres and qualified maintenance providers
Open the blueprint →Create a small trail that explains local places while giving visitors realistic access, transport and opening information. Let the people whose stories are told shape the experience and share in its value.
For: Local guides, heritage groups and community tourism organisers
Open the blueprint →Help both sides record a repair request, agreed access and the work completed. Test a shared factual timeline before building another property-management platform.
For: Tenant associations, responsible landlords and property service coordinators
Open the blueprint →Keep track of where an image came from, what permission was recorded and which uses remain unclear. Help a small creative team ask the right questions before publishing.
For: Photographers, community publishers and small production teams
Open the blueprint →Explore a guided conversation about bills, cleaning, visitors and shared space. Help prospective housemates discover practical disagreements before they become daily friction.
For: Housemates, student housing advisers and community housing support teams
Open the blueprint →Explore a service that turns a business’s approved message into a short, clearly spoken local-language audio brief. Begin with human translators and speakers, then test where technology genuinely helps.
For: Local-language creators, small businesses and community media producers
Open the blueprint →Explore a way to collect availability and flag staffing gaps before a manager publishes a rota. Make changes visible and give workers a clear route to correct mistakes.
For: Small service teams, operations coordinators and worker representatives
Open the blueprint →Test whether a small group can make a project’s first-use instructions easier to follow. Focus on reproducible documentation problems and maintainer-approved improvements rather than another course or recruitment platform.
For: Open-source maintainers, technical writers and community developer groups
Open the blueprint →Explore a pooled-crate service with a clear handover and return routine. First test whether reusable packaging can circulate reliably within one existing trading network.
For: Market cooperatives, produce traders and packaging service operators
Open the blueprint →Explore an organised exchange of low-risk help such as language practice or basic digital skills. Test whether a coordinator can make fair, dependable introductions before creating an open services marketplace.
For: Community organisations, volunteer coordinators and participating adult members
Open the blueprint →Give small service businesses a reusable way to quote work, track deposits, document changes and reduce customer disputes without buying a complicated ERP system.
For: Tailors, repair technicians, builders, informal and formal service SMEs
Open the blueprint →Connect young people with short, supervised, paid trade placements using clear tasks, safety expectations and a skills log rather than selling another certificate.
For: Trade associations, youth centres, repair workshops and local employers
Open the blueprint →