IST-Africa and mHealth4Afrika showcased during the International Conference on Sustainable Development

28 September 2018

IST-Africa and mHealth4Afrika results were very actively disseminated during the International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) in New York from 25 - 28 September 2018:

- IEEE Pre-Conference Panel, Tuesday 25 September

- Linking Policy, Operations and Workforce towards meeting Global Health Goals, Wednesday 26 September

- mHealth4Afrika case study presented during the Technology and Innovation for the SDGs Plenary Session, Thursday 27 September

- mHealth4Afrika / IST-Africa case study presented during the IEEE Participatory Workshop on Technology for the SDGs, Friday 28 September

TheInternational Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) provided a forum for academia, government, civil society, UN agencies, and the private sector to come together to share practical solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It brought together over 1,000 professionals from the private sector, academia, government, and civil society, along with graduate students.

The IST-Africa Institute is a member of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

As a result of participation in ICSD, the following paper was published: Cunningham, M., Cunningham, P. (2018) "mHealth4Afrika - Supporting Primary Healthcare Delivery in Resource Constrained Environments ", Proceedings of 2018 International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD).

IEEE Pre-Conference Panel, Tuesday 25 September

The IEEE Pre-conference Panel on Tuesday 25 September provided insights into Sustainable Development related activities being undertaken by IEEE Members. The panel included:

- Mary Lynne Nielsen, IEEE Standards

- Alex Anderson, IEEE Smart Village

- Paul Cunningham, IIMC / IST-Africa / IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee

- Miriam Cunningham, IIMC / IST-Africa / mHealth4Afrika

- Shaikh Fattah, BUET / IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee - Education

Each panelist provided a short case on Sustainable Development projects that they are currently involved in. Miriam Cunningham shared insights into IST-Africa and mHealth4Afrika, which is co-designing a modular adaptable and extensible multilingual framework that integrates Electronic Medical Records and Electronic Health Record functionality with medical sensors and data visualisation tools.

The panelists also discussed: challenges and opportunities associated with implementing a co-design strategy and strengthening local capacity; technology adoption and how technologists, scientists and engineers contribute to sustainable development. The facilitated insights to be shared from mHealth4Afrika, IEEE standards committee, Smart Village and other ICT4Development projects. The panel was well attended with participants from more than 20 countries.

Linking Policy, Operations and Workforce towards meeting Global Health Goals, Wednesday 26 September

This session presented results from papers submitted under the Call for papers.

Paul Cunningham and Miriam Cunningham provided insights into mHealth4Afrika objectives, how it is addressing Sustainable Development Goal 3, the ongoing co-design process and system functionality. This was complimented by a video demonstration of the system functionality and an overview of lessons learnt. The presentation was very well received with plenty of questions on the approach taken.

Presentations included

- Sustainability of Societal Peace and the Paradox of Nation Building in Apartheid South Africa and its Contemporary relevance - Olugbenga-Jay Oguntuwase, Nottingham Trent University UK

- mHealth4Afrika - Supporting Primary Healthcare Delivery in Resource Constrained Environments - Miriam Cunningham and Paul Cunningham, IIMC / mHealth4Afrika

- Private sector accountability for women's, children's, and adolescents' health - Giorgi Pkhakadze

- Strengthening Health Systems: lessons from developing nation - Arushi Sirohi

The session room was full to capacity with participants from more than 20 countries.

IST-Africa / mHealth4Afrika case study presented during the Technology and Innovation for the SDGs Plenary Session, Thursday 27 September

This plenary panel focused on how to maximize the potential benefits of leveraging technology, innovation and standards while taking account of ethical considerations (including informed consent) and the potential impact on local socio-cultural norms. Click here to view the video of this plenary session.

Panelists included:

- Paul Cunningham, Director, IST-Africa Institute/mHealth4Afrika; Chair, IEEE Humanitarian Activities Committee Chair

- Chris Fabian, Principal Advisor on Innovation, UNICEF Office of Innovation

- Silvia Figueira, Director, Frugal Innovation Hub, Santa Clara University

- Sonia Sachs, Director of the Health Sector, Center for Sustainable Development, The Earth Institute, Columbia University

Each panelist provided insights into:

- Examples of projects/initiatives leveraging technology in Sustainable Development addressing the SDG Goals and their impact;

- How do socio-economic and socio-cultural factors impact on selecting the appropriate technology?;

- What role, if any, did standards play in these examples? How can standards be leveraged more effectively?

- What type of ethical considerations need to be factored into the design of innovative community driven projects?

There was a very rich discussion that facilitated the participants to get insight into activities undertaken using technology in different ways depending on the intervention environment and requirements. Paul Cunningham shared insights from IST-Africa and mHealth4Afrika as case studies.

IST-Africa / mHealth4Afrika case study presented during the IEEE Participatory Workshop on Technology for the SDGs, Friday 28 September

This participatory workshop combined theory, practice, and working group collaboration. Miriam Cunningham and Paul Cunningham, IIMC presented IST-Africa activities and mHealth4Afrika as a case study highlighting how co-design was leveraged to contribute towards system iterations, functionality currently being evaluated and lessons learnt to date.