Five ICT Implementers Share Lessons on Ebola Response and Recovery

On December 3rd, 2015, Dimagi hosted a webinar on the use of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) in Ebola Response, which featured presentations from MercyCorps, World Food Program, International Rescue Mission, IBM Research, and IntraHealth. 

During the 90-minute webinar, the organizations shared lessons learned using ICT on the ground in a response environment. We were thrilled to hear from such an impressive array of actors, and truly impressed by how openly presenters discussed what worked — and what did not work — in their respective Ebola response and recovery efforts. 

You can watch the webinar here or click below:

Key Highlights from the Webinar:

• Sophie Roden, MercyCorps: Using Technology to Enhance Social Mobilization– Learning from MercyCorp’s Ebola Community Action Platform (ECAP) in Liberia
  • Listen to Sophie’s presentation to learn about the creative use of Facebook and WhatsApp groups to improve communication and coordination of field teams.
• Jean-Martin Bauer, WFP: Mobile Vulnerability Analysis Mapping (mVAM)
  • Hear from Jean-Martin on the benefits and challenges of SMS surveys versus IVR calls for accurate and rapid data collection.
• Paul Amendola, IRC: ICT Ebola Response
  • Paul discusses the importance of user-centered design in saving time and money, and improving efficacy of ICT in IRC’s Ebola response projects.
• Meenal Pore, IBM Research: Africa: Towards a 2-way communication and analytics platform for emergency response and post-emergency recovery efforts in Sierra Leone
  • See how IBM Research is building EPiC dashboards to visualize EVD risk levels across Sierra Leone.
• Amanda Puckett BenDor, IntraHealth: mHero: Connecting health workers and Ministries of Health
  • Learn how mHero was designed for interoperability from the start by “building on what’s already there”: DHIS2, iHRIS, RapidPro, and CommCare.

This webinar was the second of a two-part discussion, offered through a Grand Challenge Cooperative Agreement with USAID to expand the use of ICT for Ebola Response and Recovery, and support a growing consortium of organizations involved in the response.