On day two of the MobileActive β08 conference, I attended The Humanitarian Technology Challenge: In Search of Innovative Solutions presented by Claire Thwaites, who heads the technology partnership between Vodaphone and the UN Foundation.
Thwaites said that their goal is to find technology solutions to humanitarian challenges. The IEEE lists five key challenges which Thwaites presented:
Reliable Electricity
Needs: Power availability for electronic devices, including low power stationary facilities, rugged mobile power supplies for emergency settings, mechanical transducers, passive generation devices that charge as you walk. Renewable energy hubs are preferred, as well as the use of intermediate field offices as data relay points.
Data Connectivity of Rural Health District Offices
Needs: Exchange data between central health facilities and remote field offices. Two-way transmission β upload/download, data could be batched for daily transfer, also useful for emergency alerts and outbreak alerts, less expensive service and higher bandwidth needed, maps of existing connectivity
Local Management and Tracking of Supply Distribution
Needs: Ensure that supplies are getting to the people that need them in order to maximize the impact of assistance. Monitor and assess local resources β where they are sent, where they are received, and how they are used; financial tracking of expenditures.
Incident Tracking
Needs: Determine locations and extent of medical problems to focus resources. We need ways to report maternal deaths, spousal abuse, etc. that do not require literacy skills (they may use voice, visual, touch); and a feedback loop is required to show how the data is used.
Patient ID and Tie to Health Records
Needs: Maintain consistent patient records including when patients visit different clinics or relocate. Secure confidential ID for patients; emergency response and chronic care applications; useful for routine care for migrant population.
Post new comment