Technology Salon

In our September Technology Salon, we took on James BonTempo’s pertinent question of What Does the “m” in mHealth Really Mean? in a spirited debate with technology and development practitioners.

Is this mHealthcare? (photo: Data Dyne)

We were seeking a better definition of mHealth than the current focus on devices, and specifically the hype around mobile phones. As one participant bemoaned, it seems that every health project with a mobile phone or PDA, no matter their usage, is now an mHealth project.

So we sought to put parameters on what could be called an mHealth project, and through that, come up with a new definition for mHealth. After an hour of vibrant debate, we developed these four aspects for mHealth projects:

Last week I had the privilege to participate in the Humanitarian Technology ChallengeTechnology Partnership with the Vodafone Foundation.

Mark Summer of Inveneo

Over two days, IEEE members were encouraged to develop and implement technological responses to three humanitarian challenges in developing countries:

1. Reliable Electricity: Availability of power for electronic devices
2. Data Connectivity of Rural District Health Offices: Capability of exchanging data among remote field offices and central health facilities
3. Patient ID Tied to Health Records: Maintain consistent patient records, including when patients visit different clinics and when they relocate

Working with them were representatives of 10 humanitarian organizations, and the brainstorming sessions where technology and development experts came together to devise solutions made the conference feel like a large-scale Technology Salon.