Improving and upgrading the Silbernetz dashboard

Partner:	Silbernetz e.V.
Impact:	Update and stabilize one of CorrelAid’s most successful projects to bring it up to date.
Skills:	Shiny, renv, Refactoring, DevOps, Data Application Development, Geodata
GitHub Repository	https://github.com/CorrelAid/silbernetz-public
Team:	3–4 people
Start:	End of May 2025
Expected Project End:	End of September or October 2025
Location:	Remote
Language Requirements:	English is possible, but we will select at least 1–2 team members with strong German skills (>B2/C1) to ensure communication with the NPO partner’s contact person in German.
Application Deadline:	May 10, 2025
Application Form	https://ee.correlaid.org/single/jkM06lOV

"The data visualization revolutionized our work. As the director, I often used the maps in conversations with politicians, stakeholders, and donors. Our partners understood our work much faster and better because of it. We were able to convince existing donors of our impact and attract new ones. The project was a true milestone for us."

This is how the (now former) director of Silbernetz e.V.—a hotline for older people feeling lonely—described the Shiny dashboard developed by CorrelAid volunteers as part of a project (2021–22). Learn more about the project in our project database.

The Silbernetz team uses the dashboard intensively, which is why they reached out to us when errors and bugs began disrupting their critical workflows. The main reason for these issues and the declining stability of the application is that the current version is 3 years old and hasn’t been maintained—Silbernetz lacked the necessary skills to do so.

Since the project with Silbernetz is one of the most impactful projects CorrelAid has ever undertaken, we want to support them by:

• … improving the longevity and stability of the dashboard application. This includes identifying areas for improvement, code refactoring, package updates, and removing unnecessary packages.
• … optimizing performance, especially when loading data from the API.
• … making the dashboard more maintainable in the long term, e.g., through a dedicated development environment and pinning package versions.
• … adding new features to the dashboard.

You can find the existing code on GitHub. Here’s a short video showcasing some dashboard features:

Your Application

CorrelAid projects give you the opportunity to apply your skills and potential for the common good while developing them further in a team. Here, you can acquire new competencies, develop and test innovative solutions, and expand your experience. To apply and participate in the project, you should...

• … enjoy "cleaning up" other developers' code. This project won’t involve rewriting the application from scratch—unless the team decides it’s feasible within the timeframe and leads to a more stable, future-proof solution.
• … have experience writing R code. For this project, you need at least intermediate R skills, such as writing functions.
• … be interested in learning how to write stable and robust R/Shiny code.
• … be curious about finding creative solutions to "deploy" the application on Silbernetz’s laptops and PCs.
• … be open and able to meet our Silbernetz contact where they are—in their understanding of the application. This includes screen sharing, detailed explanations, and good documentation.

The following skills and experiences are helpful but not mandatory:

• Experience making (R) applications more robust and observable, e.g., using renv, Docker, logging, or testing.
• Experience developing R packages.
• Experience with DevOps, e.g., setting up different environments, local CI/CD, or make.
• Experience with file-based databases like sqlite or duckdb (optional).

Time Commitment

• Approx. 2–4 hours per week

Timeline

• Applications open until May 10
• Team selection: by May 17
• End of May: Kickoff (exact date TBA)
• The project will run through the summer until the end of September or October—depending on how much refactoring and restructuring the team wants/needs to do.

Open Positions

• 1 Team Lead
• 1 Team Trainee
• 1–2 Team Members

Application Form Link

https://ee.correlaid.org/single/jkM06lOV