Communication, identity, and data collection that keep working through disasters and blackouts
When infrastructure fails, response teams and affected communities still need to message, verify who they are dealing with, and record what happened. The mesh runs on the devices already in the field. UNICEF Innovation Fund finalist.
Running the mesh across active deployments
Where the network is already deployed
Phone-to-phone emergency comms across the crew
For field verification with no connectivity
The first thing a crisis takes is the network
Response coordination goes dark with the grid
Cell towers, power, and backhaul fail together. Teams fall back to runners and paper exactly when coordination demand peaks. 313 internet shutdowns across 52 countries in 2025 compound the problem.
Identity systems assume a reachable registry
Beneficiary verification, staff credentials, and aid entitlements all depend on lookups against systems that are offline when they matter.
Field data cannot be trusted after the fact
Assessments collected on disconnected devices arrive days later with no way to prove when, where, or by whom a record was made.
Infrastructure that ships in a pocket
The mesh moves more than text: chunked transfer carries files up to 100MB, damage photos, forms, map tiles, hop by hop with resume. Records collected offline reconcile automatically when any node regains a connection, and unique message signatures prevent replayed or tampered submissions along the way.
Messaging over nearby devices
Phones relay encrypted messages device-to-device over BLE and WiFi Direct, up to 8 hops, and sync when any node regains a connection. No towers, no satellites, no generators required.
Identity that verifies face to face
OfflineID credentials verify device-to-device with zero connectivity. A field officer confirms a colleague or a beneficiary entitlement on the spot, with revocation propagating when any device reaches the internet. 300,000+ issued.
Verifiable offline data collection
Observations are signed at capture: tamper-evident, attributable, timestamped records that hold up when they finally reach a database days later.
What you can build for disaster and outage response
These are buildable today on the SDK primitives, no fixed infrastructure required.
A disaster response comms app on the phones already deployed
You can build an emergency communication tool where response teams message device-to-device across a blackout zone with DORS, up to 8 hops, and one connected node syncs the whole group out. No towers, satellites, or generators in the loop.
Offline beneficiary and staff verification
You can build a verification flow where a field officer confirms a colleague credential or a beneficiary entitlement face to face with OfflineID at zero connectivity, and revocation propagates the moment any device reaches the internet.
Tamper-evident field assessments that sync later
You can build offline data collection where damage reports, photos, and forms up to 100MB are signed at capture and moved hop by hop with chunked transfer, arriving attributable and timestamped when a node regains a connection.
The primitives behind resilient public sector comms
Emergency communication with no infrastructure
DORS meshes standard iOS and Android phones into a relay network that carries encrypted messages across an outage. Coverage is a property of the crew, not the grid.
How the mesh works →Self-sovereign identity for the field
OfflineID gives every worker and beneficiary an Ed25519 identity verified device-to-device offline, with on-chain rotation and revocation. Trust that does not depend on a reachable registry.
Offline identity, explained →Signed telemetry and audit trail
Opt-in telemetry buffers every relay and delivery on-device through the outage and flushes in order when connectivity returns, giving programs a defensible operational record.
How telemetry works →What your team can implement
Phone-to-phone emergency messaging
Group and direct messages relayed device-to-device with no tower.
MLS group channels for response cells
Encrypted group sessions authenticated per member with OfflineID.
Face-to-face credential verification
Confirm staff and beneficiaries offline against Ed25519 identities.
Discoverable services on the mesh
Publish forms, lookups, and dispatch as request/response endpoints.
Chunked transfer for photos and map tiles
Move payloads up to 100MB hop by hop with resume.
Signed, timestamped field records
Capture tamper-evident assessments that hold up on sync.
Proof of location for field reports
Attach verifiable location context to observations offline.
Build on the SDK
React Native and TypeScript bindings over a Rust core.
Emergency communication without cell service, in plain terms
When a disaster takes the grid, it takes the towers with it, and every radio or satellite alternative means procuring, charging, and distributing hardware before it helps anyone. A device-to-device mesh takes the opposite approach: the phones your teams and affected communities already hold relay encrypted messages for each other, up to 8 hops, and a single node with a working link syncs the whole group's traffic out.
Identity works the same way. OfflineID lets a field officer verify a colleague's credential or a beneficiary's entitlement face to face with zero connectivity, with 300,000+ identities already issued and revocation propagating whenever any device reaches the internet.
For programs that also move value, the same rails underpin offline-capable payments, from vouchers to cash transfer instructions signed in the field.
A field report reaches the outside through one connected node
A field officer's signed report relays phone to phone across a blackout zone with no towers and no power, reaching the one connected crew device that syncs it to the command dashboard at HQ.
Figure 1. A signed assessment travels phone to phone across the blackout zone, up to 8 hops, until it reaches the one device with a working link. The record arrives tamper-evident and attributable, and every relay along the way carried only ciphertext.
Public sector FAQ
How can teams communicate when cell towers are down?
Phone to phone. The mesh relays encrypted messages device-to-device over BLE and WiFi Direct, up to 8 hops, with no tower, satellite, or generator in the loop. Any phone running an app with the SDK becomes a node, so a response team carries its own network into the field.
What is a disaster response communication system that needs no infrastructure?
One built from the devices already on site. DORS meshes standard iOS and Android phones into a relay network, OfflineID verifies people and credentials face to face, and signed records sync out through whichever node first regains a link.
What hardware does a deployment need?
The phones already in the field. The mesh runs on standard iOS and Android devices; dedicated hardware relays can extend coverage but are optional.
How is beneficiary data protected?
All sessions are MLS (RFC 9420) encrypted, identities are Ed25519 keys that never leave the device, and telemetry is opt-in. Data stays on-device until you choose where it syncs.
Has this been used in real deployments?
The network runs on 350,000+ devices across 80+ countries, with clusters active through disasters, blackouts, and connectivity shutdowns. Offline Protocol is a UNICEF Innovation Fund finalist.
How do we evaluate it for our program?
A 6 to 10 week scoped pilot against a defined program scenario, with success criteria agreed up front. Contact us to scope it.
What happens when connectivity returns?
Nothing to migrate. Messages, signed records, and telemetry that accumulated during the outage sync opportunistically the moment any node in the mesh reaches the internet, and operations continue on the same devices.
Can teams run group channels offline?
Yes. Group messaging runs over the same mesh inside MLS group sessions, so a response cell shares one encrypted channel with no infrastructure behind it, and members joining in the field authenticate with OfflineID before they see a message.
