SSIT Distinguished Lecture | mHealth4Afrika – Lessons Learnt and Good Practices from Co-Designing Technology Solutions for Resource Constrained Environments by Paul Cunningham and Miriam Cunningham
IEEE UK and Ireland SSIT Chapter, Pittsburgh SSIT Chapter, Philadelphia SSIT Chapter and Sweden SSIT Chapter are cooperating to organise this SSIT Distinguished Lecture (DL) as a joint Chapter Webinar.
This Distinguished Lecture (DL) shares lessons learnt and good practices, as well as highlighting societal and ethical challenges associated with the systematic introduction of appropriate technology to address healthcare challenges in resource constrained environments. It will also facilitate discussion around about potential opportunities for IEEE and non-IEEE members to get more involved in Sustainable Development and ICT4D activities at home and abroad.
Supported by the European Commission, mHealth4Afrika has co-designed and validated a state-of-the-art modular, extensible and multilingual standards based health information system to support strengthening primary healthcare delivery in resource constrained environments. Designed to function in both online and offline modes, complement and gradually replace use of traditional hardcopy patient registries, mHealth4Afrika was co-designed with Ministries of Health, district health officers, healthcare facility managers and healthcare workers from urban, rural and deep rural primary healthcare facilities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa.
mHealth4Afrika was co-designed and validated in 23 healthcare facilities (including county and referral hospitals), serving a total catchment population of c.875,000 people. It supports longitudinal “cradle to grave” medical records, integrating: Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) functionality; use of Medical Sensors at the point of care; analytical, visualisation and decision support tools; automatic generation of program specific aggregate data for District Health Offices & Ministries of Health; SMS Appointment Reminders; and integration with a Laboratory Test System.
About the Speakers
Paul Cunningham and Miriam Cunningham are the founders and coordinators of the mHealth4Afrika Initiative, which is focused on leveraging technology, innovation and capacity building training and multi-stakeholder collaboration to strengthen universal healthcare delivery in resource constrained environments.
Prof Paul M Cunningham is Executive Director, IST-Africa Institute, a not-for-profit international research and policy organisation supported by the European Commission and African Union Commission, and a member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN). Paul is also President & CEO, International Information Management Corporation, which provides technology, strategy, and policy expertise for international and national government organizations, and research and innovation programs in Europe and Africa. Paul is 2021 – 2022 Director, IEEE Division VI; Past President and VP Conferences, IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology; and Past Chair, IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee.
Miriam Cunningham is a Senior Consultant primarily focused on ICT and Science Technology and Innovation (STI) related policy analysis, research, implementation and adaptation, and the impact of Research and Innovation on socio-economic development. Miriam has over 20 years’ experience in ICT R&D working with public, private and education and research stakeholders in Europe and Africa. Miriam has extensive practical experience undertaking needs assessment, evaluating, monitoring and assessing Research and Innovation (R&I) projects in Europe and Africa as well as field experience creating, implementing and managing cross-border R&I projects in Europe and Africa.
All IEEE and SSIT Members are invited to register up to 27 January. IEEE Members should include their IEEE Membership Number when registering. All participants should include an email address as part of registration to facilitate receiving the meeting link.
The link to participate in this SSIT Joint Chapter Webinar will be provided to those who register prior to the meeting.
