As technology changes, so do the reasons why it’s so important. Over the past year we have seen a new fight for both medical teams and technology experts across the world – the fight against Ebola.
BT recently donated satellite equipment to support aid agencies and healthcare teams, playing a key role in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, as well as supplying thousands of hygiene kits to staff at hospitals and schools.
Over the years the Tech4Good Awards have seen some incredibly innovative ways that people are using technology in the developing world.
In 2012 ActionAid won the Innovation Award for their use of mobile phone technology in the remotest parts of Kenya. Communities had been badly affected by the drought, and monthly food supplies were needed to provide for over 70,000 people – but letting people know when these were arriving was a problem. Children had to leave school to tell their parents that the trucks were on their way, and communication was broken between buyers and sellers, meaning a loss in sales for producers. Using basic mobile phones, SMS network technology and simple community notice boards, local people stayed connected and their income boosted by this shared communication.
In 2014 Computer Aid International made it to the finals in the BT Ingenious Award category for their product, Zubabox. In Kakuma Kenya a stationed Zubabox supported over 100,000 displaced people in the third largest refugee camp in the world, providing medical staff with the means to reach specialists anywhere in the world through ICT. Staff can email medical notes and digital photographs of critically ill patients for expert clinical diagnostic support from experienced professional clinicians hundreds of miles away.
If you, or an organisation, charity or individual that you know, is using pioneering technology in the developing world – enter the Tech4Good Awards this year. If you’re connect people across the world through technology, sparking new connections, and using technology in new and inspiring ways, enter the BT Ingenious Award and let our panel of judges know why their work is so important.
