About
Health 2.0 and social media break through old styles of health communications. A good thing, because often the old ways are
Mary Kay Alegre of the Health 2.0 World Trek Blog
ineffective, and costly. Through my blog, Health 2.0 World Trek, I will share trends and innovation from around the world. Maybe there will be something here to inspire your next global health, public health, or health literacy campaign. The rise of user-generated healthcare will change the way we think about healthcare, build healthcare products and services, and communicate with patients. This blog will explore what’s in it for us, and what it means for our health messages.
Health 2.0 World Trek will also feature posts by guest bloggers, and interviews with thought leaders in Health 2.0, global health, public health, and health literacy.
Why this blog? As an instructional system designer and adult educator, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to get messages across, and make a positive impact. I am inspired by the what I see happening in the rise of Health 2.0 and social media in health. I believe they have the power to communicate awareness about serious health issues like diabetes, maternal and child health, and infectious disease. I want to share examples of Health 2.0 and new media with organizations looking for new ways to educate their target audiences.
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Hello”
The Vodafone Americas Foundation and the mHealth Alliance announce the winners of the second annual Wireless Innovation Project™ and the first mHealth Alliance Award with $650,000 in cash and prizes to three groundbreaking wireless solutions. The attached and following press release gives detailed information about the winning teams who were selected for their use of wireless technology to save lives and solve critical global challenges.
The winners will all be together today to accept their awards at the Global Philanthropy Forum in Redwood City, CA. Please let me know if you would be interested in speaking with any of the winners of someone from Vodafone Americas Foundation about the winning projects.
What: Interview Opportunity with Winners of Vodafone Americas Wireless Innovation Project and mHealth Alliance Award
When: Monday, April 19, between 2pm and 6pm
Where: Global Philanthropy Forum, Sofitel Hotel, Redwood City, 223 Twin Dolphin Drive
RSVP: Please call Denise Lamott to schedule an interview (415) 235-6458
The press release (with hyperlinks) is attached. Please let me know if you are interested in speaking with the winners or someone from the Vodafone Americas Foundation. Thank you again for your time.
Best regards
Denise
–
Denise Lamott
Denise Lamott Public Relations
(415) 381-8793
Denise@DeniseLamottPR.com
http://www.DeniseLamottPR.com
Contact: Denise Lamott
O: (415) 381-8793 M: (415) 235-6458
Denise@DeniseLamottPR.com
VODAFONE AMERICAS FOUNDATION AND mHEALTH ALLIANCE
ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF WIRELESS INNOVATION COMPETITIONS
$650,000 awarded to three groundbreaking wireless projects selected for their
potential to save lives and solve critical global challenges
REDWOOD CITY, CA (April 19, 2010) – At the Global Philanthropy Forum Conference today, The Vodafone Americas Foundation and mHealth Alliance announced the winners of the second annual Wireless Innovation Project™ and the first mHealth Alliance Award for innovation in mobile health (mHealth). The winning projects, which together will be awarded $650,000 in cash and prizes, were selected for their ability to leverage wireless technology to help meet challenges faced in developing countries, including access to clean air, medical care, and financial services for the rural poor. The award will help bring each project to the next stages of implementation and scale.
“As someone from the wireless industry, I’m proud to be associated with these winners,” said Terry Kramer, president of Vodafone Americas Foundation. “We’ve selected three outstanding innovations that cover a wide spectrum of issues, and have the ability to help millions of people.”
This year’s winners include:
1st Place ($300,000 winner) –
100 Million Stoves
Approximately 700 million households, including the poorest half of the world population rely on fire and simple stoves for cooking. Smoke and exposure from these stoves are responsible for causing premature deaths for 1.5 million women and children as well as contributing to climate change. With the potential to improve health, air quality, reduce greenhouse gases and save lives, 100 Million Stoves is a simple wireless stove use monitoring system (SUMS) that can be attached to the millions of new low-emission stoves being used in developing regions. Being developed at the University of California at Berkeley for initial application in India, this groundbreaking wireless technology will help assess the impact of household energy programs, enable feedback from users, and provide transparent verification of carbon credits.
2nd Place ($200,000 winner) –
FrontlineSMS: Credit
An open source software, FrontlineSMS:Credit has the potential to open up financial services and micro-financing to millions of people in the developing world. The application leverages mobile payment systems and core banking software to bring financial services – such as savings, credit, insurance and payroll – to the entrepreneurial poor, eliminating geographic and time barriers and turning mobile payment systems into platforms for mobile banking.
3rd Place ($100,000 winner) & winner of the mHealth Alliance Award ($50,000) –
Sana (previously MocaMobile)
Sana is a multidisciplinary group based out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a mission to revolutionize healthcare delivery in rural and underserved areas. Sana has developed an innovative open source platform that allows mobile phones to capture and send data for an electronic medical record and links community health workers with physicians for real-time decision support.
In addition to the Wireless Innovation Project™ third prize, Sana also will receive the mHealth Alliance Award - with benefits totaling $50,000, including participation in Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology, and Society’s Global Social Benefit Incubator Program (GSBI™), a highly competitive program that connects innovators with a Silicon Valley support network and provides instruction on how to achieve maximum sustainability and impact in social enterprises.
“Innovations like Sana demonstrate the power of mobile health, or mHealth, to close the health information divide,” said David Aylward, executive director of the mHealth Alliance. “We selected Sana for the mHealth Alliance Award because of its proven potential to connect remote health workers with medical professionals, supporting the delivery of quality care to the furthest reaches of wireless communications.”
Wireless Innovation Project winners and the mHealth Alliance Award winner will receive a unique trophy – one-of-a-kind hand-made African baskets woven from telephone wire and crafted by artisans associated with Bridge for Africa, a nonprofit fair trade organization that promotes employment in rural Africa.
Award winners were selected from a pool of nearly 100 qualified applicants from universities and non-governmental organizations throughout the United States. A panel of judges from the fields of wireless engineering, international development, social entrepreneurship and business evaluated the applications for their potential to solve critical global problems in the fields of education, health, access to communication, the environment or economic development.
AWARD RECIPIENTS ARE AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW
For in-person interviews at the Global Philanthropy Forum in Redwood City, CA on April 19, 2010, contact Denise Lamott at (415) 235-6458 or Denise@DeniseLamottPR.com
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About the Vodafone Americas Foundation
Vodafone Americas Foundation is part of Vodafone’s global network of foundations. We are affiliated with Vodafone Group Plc, the world’s leading mobile telecommunications company, with ownership interests in 31 countries and Partner Markets in more than 40 countries. As of June 30, 2009, Vodafone had approximately 315 million proportionate customers worldwide. In the U.S., our foundation directs its philanthropic activities towards the San Francisco Bay and the Metro Denver Areas where most of our employees live and work, and where we strive to make a positive and enduring impact on our communities. The Foundation is driven by a passion for the world around us. We make grants that help people in our communities and around the world lead fuller lives.
About the mHealth Alliance
The mHealth Alliance is dedicated to enabling the delivery of quality healthcare to the farthest reaches of wireless networks in the developing world. Created by the United Nations Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Vodafone Foundation, the Alliance’s mission is to be a catalyst and accelerant, supporting leaders, celebrating successes, creating hard research, filling gaps, making connections, and forging public-private partnerships. More information is available at http://www.mHealthAlliance.org.
About the Global Philanthropy Forum
A project of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, the Global Philanthropy Forum aims to build a community of donors and social investors committed to international causes, and to inform, enable and enhance the strategic nature of their work.
Through an annual conference, a summer seminar, special events and conference call programs, the GPF connects donors to issues; to effective strategies; to potential co-funding partners; and to emblematic agents of change from around the world. By building, and continually refreshing a lasting learning community, the GPF seeks to expand the number of philanthropists who will be strategic in pursuit of international causes. For more information visit.
About Santa Clara University’s Center for Science, Technology & Society
Santa Clara University is committed to educating leaders of competence, conscience, and compassion who will help fashion a more just, humane, and sustainable world. As a University center of distinction, the Center for Science, Technology, and Society undertakes three integrative activities: educating students, engaging the public, and exemplifying the realization of social impact through our flagship Global Social Benefit Incubator Program (GSBI™). In so doing, we forge strong connections across local and global businesses, civic and academic institutions, and the technology innovators of Silicon Valley in the context of Jesuit values of service. For more information visit http://www.scu.edu/sts.
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