Progress report for
ICT4SIDS Partnership: Rapid Implementation of SDGs Through Latest Digital Innovations
Achievement at a glance
1. Established a strong working relationship with OHRLLS, especially with Peter Kenilorea and Hans Damien Sass. Due to this relationship, we held 6 working sessions with representatives from 11 SIDS in 2015 and 20162. Established strong working relationships with 11 SIDS (Antigua, Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, Maldives, Nauru, Palau, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu). The Ambassadors to UN and their staff from these islands attended the workshops.
3. Expanded private partnership to include large private organizations such as IBM. As a result of this partnership, IBM has donated a large scale machine that is currently housing the Central ICT Hubs to support the ICT Hubs in SIDS for Health, Education, Public Safety and Public Welfare.
4. Expanded partnership to include World Class Organizations such as the World Hypertension League (WHL) and Colleagues in Care (CIC). WHL and CIC are at the core of the World Hypertension Telemedicine Center that is housed at the IBM Machine on Harrisburg University Campus. This Center is already working with Haiti. Hypertension is the largest Non Communicable Disease (NCD) that is highlighted in the Samoa Pathway as well as SDGs (Goal3).
.5. Established a very strong partnership with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU) for capacity building and ICT technical support. The IBM machine is housed at the HU campus and will support capacity building programs in ICT for SIDS
6. Actively Produced Presentations and Publications
• We have presented our results at the UN Infopoverty World Conference (IWC), held on April 14-15, 2016, at the UN Headquarters, NYC.
• We also presented our results at the Aruba P3C Conference in March 2016
• We have published several white papers, educational materials and demonstrations that can be found at our Website (www.ict4sids.com)
* The SPACE tool, used in the computer aided methodology, has been published widely in research journals and conferences
Challenges faced in implementation
As stated previously, we are concentrating on large number of collaborating ICT Hubs for Rapid Adoption of Samoa Pathway and UN Post 2015 Agenda. However, implementation of this vision of large number of interacting ICT Hubs is a non-trivial task that presents the following challenges (failure rates of ICT projects like this are very high -- up to 80% in developing countries due to these challenges)• Where to locate the ICT Hubs
• What type of services to provide for the area that are of vital importance
• What type of energy and ICT infrastructure will be needed especially in the remote areas
• What are the national, regional and local security, privacy and cultural policy issues
• How to address the funding, business partnerships and capacity building issues
To address these and other related challenges, we use the following computer aided methodology:
• A Free Pilot Project is initiated by a SIDS and a Point of Contact (POC) is appointed for the Project
• The pilot project concentrates on one or two hubs, duration is up to 6 months at minimal/no cost
• A powerful computer aided planning tool is used to conduct an extensive feasibility study that specifically addresses the aforementioned challenges
• The on-line feasibility study can be completed within a day and a working portal of the selected Hub(s) is produced within an hour
• The results of the feasibility study are published in a Donor Portal for attracting funding sources and business partners.
The objective of this computer aided methodology is to do more (provide more services to more customers) with less (less time, money and trained staff). Specifically, this methodology can save $50K to $70K per Hub, plus time (almost a year) and significantly reduce retries, errors and failures. These improvements reduce ICT risk, and can attract greater participation by the private sector.
Next Steps
So far, we have learned the following main lessons:* Implementation of World Hypertension Telemedicine Hub, currently, focusing on Haiti addresses a very urgent need for SIDS
* Computer aided Pilot Projects are essential for rapid deployment of large number of collaborating ICT Hubs needed to support SDGs and Samoa Pathway
* The computer aided planning methodology is best divided into two phases: Phase1 (computer aided Feasibility Study) and Phase2 (Deployment and Management)
* Phase1 (computer aided Feasibility Study) is a complete success with very promising results (high value with low cost)
* Phase2 needs some work. In particular, choice of Point of Contact (POC) and Funding are key challenges
* The main advantage of the computer aided methodology is that he knowledge gained is fed back into the tool for future use
* The computer aided planning tool Computer Aided Advising Tool called SPACE (Strategic Planning, Architectures, Controls and Education) is a very good aid for capacity building in SIDS
Based on the lessons learned, we are adopting the following next steps:
* The World Hypertension Telemedicine Hub will be rapidly deployed in many SIDS, first focusing on the 11 aforementioned SIDS
* The next major World Hub will focus on Disaster Recovery and Management (DRM) by using Shana open source software. SPACE is currently being extended to support Sahana
* Keep refining SPACE and computer aided planning methodology
* Use SPACE extensively for SIDS capacity building
* Encourage young entrepreneurs from SIDS to become POCs and help them start their own businesses
* Use our success to develop funding proposals
Beneficiaries
All SIDS
Actions
* in Haiti, patients with hypertension problems are being treated by hypertension experts in the US by using a telemedicine model where local clinic (ICT Hub) communicates with the World Hypertension Center located in Harrisburg. This model will be replicated to several other SIDS.* DRM Hubs in different SIDS will be connected to a World DRM Center, also located in Harrisburg
* Young entrepreneurs in SIDS can start their businesses. For example, young nurses are already running some health telemedicine hubs
* More sectors to be explored later