Techies Without Borders

The Botswana Combination Prevention Project (BCPP) is designed for testing and implementing an enhanced combination prevention package for prevention and reduction in HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana. A team consisting of Joe Cipolla, Courtney Bell, and Dr. Manoj Thomas worked to determine ways to support the maintenance of the electronic data collection (EDC) software that is implemented in Python programming language on Django framework. The EDC software is used for the management of field data for audit by the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institute of Health (NIH), and the Harvard School of Public Health. The research will aim to understand the effectiveness of ICT solutions to attain the overarching objective of HIV monitoring and treatment intervention in Botswana. The project will include a research element, where I plan to understand the effectiveness of ICT solutions to attain the overarching objective of HIV monitoring and treatment intervention in Botswana. The research will also aim to identify factors that require consideration for ICT implementation in an environment where the technology resources are scarce, and the maintenance of confidentiality, integrity, and privacy of data is critical.

Implemented a multi-location network infrastructure at the Iracambi Research Center, Minas Gerais, Brazil for managing natural resources, developing sustainable communities, and conducting research on rainforest ecosystems. The research center is located in a protected area in one of the world’s top biodiversity location in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest. The project was sponsored by the United States Farmer-to-Farmer project and funded by USAID.

The ICT4E Haiti initiative aims to address challenges of developing computer literacy in Haiti. As it is one of the poorest nations in the world, more than half the Haitian population lives in acute poverty (less than US $1 per day). Only about 21% of Haitians have access to electricity and less than 50% of the country is literate. To help young Haitians succeed in the 21st century and obtain jobs that may bring them and their family out of poverty, this project aims to build ICT capacity in schools located in the Centre province of Haiti. The project involves customizing ICT solutions for durable fail proof operation in a Haitian setting, and “Training the Trainer” program for developing technological literacy and familiarity among students, teachers and young adults. A finger print based technology solution for immunization record management among primary school children will also be developed. The research element of this project focuses on evaluating the usage and impact of ICT4E in value creation, challenges of developing computer efficacy among young Haitians, and assessing factors that influence the adoption of ICT4E in resource poor countries.

CME refers to Continuing Medical Education, which are educational activities that help medical practitioners maintain competence, learn about new and developing areas of their field and improve patient care. CME development and utilization face challenges worldwide because resources are limited and infrastructure for the delivery of healthcare and information is fragile. Based on interviews with medical practitioners the main challenge to CME utilization in resource-challenged countries is lack of funds to travel to conferences or buy cme programs, lack of mandatory CME credits for continued licensing and lack of mentors to inspire continuing medical education after graduation. This results in localized medical practices with great disparities between urban and rural areas. We developed CME on a Stick (CMES) which is an auto-running USB drive with CME content and OS-like functionality and CMES-Pi which is a Raspberry-Pi unit 9small hand-sized computer) enabling CME access via our smartphone iOs or Android apps. Medical practitioners, including community health providers, medics, nurses, midwives, first-year interns, residents, and attending physicians in both urban and rural areas, can utilize CMES to gain access to free educational content and materials.