Introduction
Blue Dots is free, open-source software that helps people and organisations in the same district find each other. It serves many sectors (called domains), such as jobs, education, disability support and tourism. Jobs is the first sector running in the field.
In most districts, people who need something live close to people who offer it. Most of them are not listed anywhere online, so they don’t know about each other. Blue Dots calls this the paradox of proximity.
What is a blue dot?
Section titled “What is a blue dot?”A blue dot is a short listing that says what a person or organisation needs or offers. People nearby who can help see it and can ask to connect. In the jobs and disability domains, phone numbers are shared only after both sides agree. Orange Dot tourism listings are public on purpose.
It is called a blue dot because of map apps. When you open a map on your phone, your own location is shown as a blue dot. A listing does the same for a person, organisation or service: it shows where they are, so people nearby can find them.
Example, Blue Dot (jobs): A young person registers by phone call in their own language. A skilling centre checks the profile. A nearby employer with a vacancy sees it and sends an interview invite. The young person accepts before their number is shared.
Example, Yellow Dot (education): A Class 12 commerce student asks for help with accounts. A school or education NGO helped the student sign up. A tutor who teaches Class 12 commerce and will travel up to 5 km sends a connect request. The student accepts.
A person can create a blue dot in a few minutes, by voice call or in the app. The Blue Dots Approach explains how.
One platform, many domains
Section titled “One platform, many domains”Each domain is one sector and has its own colour. All of them run on the same software.
- Blue: livelihoods for youth (jobs). Live, piloted.
- Yellow: education avenues and services. Domain defined.
- Purple: economic participation of persons with disabilities. Domain defined.
- Orange: tourism. Domain defined.
- Pink: women’s labour-force participation. Possible.
- Green: farming efficiency. Possible.
- Brown: growth for small and medium businesses (SMBs). Possible.
“Domain defined” means a minimum standard for that domain exists: the list of fields every blue dot in it must have, so any organisation that uses it can share and find blue dots with others. “Possible” means no domain has been built yet. The Dots Family gives an example for each colour and links each minimum standard. Domains and participant types lists each domain’s participant types and status.
Why it matters
Section titled “Why it matters”When people can’t find each other locally, it shows up in national figures. Across Indian districts today:
- Service uptake is under 50% of its potential.
- Women’s labour-force participation is under 35%.
- Scheme budget utilisation runs below 70%.
- Youth placement rates (jobs) sit below 20%.
Helping people find each other in India’s top 100 districts is a conservatively estimated ₹87,500 crore opportunity in livelihoods alone. The Economics of Local Discovery shows how this figure is worked out.
What We’re Learning records how close to home people found work in the jobs pilot. A campaign for persons with disabilities (PwDs) has also used the same software; see the Purple Dot section of The Dots Family.
How Blue Dots is built
Section titled “How Blue Dots is built”Blue Dots is built as two Digital Public Goods (DPGs). A DPG is open-source software that any organisation can deploy and change. An adaptor is the organisation that deploys Blue Dots, such as a state department.
- Signals DPG stores blue dots (called signals in the software) and matches them across running copies of the software.
- Aggregator DPG is the app that lets organisations sign people up and add their blue dots in bulk.
Adaptors usually start with Signals, then add the Aggregator app when partner organisations join. The rest of this documentation covers both.
What an adaptor does
Section titled “What an adaptor does”Most of an adaptor’s work is configuration. Registration, finding, connecting, notifications and tracking already exist. So do these:
- Participant types. Each domain defines its own. The jobs domain has job seekers and job providers, and the deployed pilot schema adds service providers. The Yellow Dot (education) domain has students and tutors or counsellors. See participant profiles.
- Onboarding routes. Assisted or self-serve, in the app or by AI voice call, both supported.
- Verification checks. Structured, completed and consented, built in.
- Deployment. Automated on AWS, and adaptable to any major cloud.
The adaptor brings local knowledge and the local organisations that can reach people. The DPGs provide the software. The local choices are who should publish blue dots, which organisations can reach them, and which sector to start with. The lifecycle and the district activation guide walk through them.
How this documentation is organised
Section titled “How this documentation is organised”| Section | What you’ll find |
|---|---|
| Knowing about Blue Dots | What Blue Dots is, the key ideas, district activation, cost and the glossary. |
| Getting Started | How the DPGs connect, their architecture, and voice bots. |
| Start your Deployment | Steps to deploy the DPGs locally or on the cloud, deploy the agents, configure, and the API reference. |