The South African team behind e-Kasi Care will showcase its medical solution before a global audience at the Huawei Tech4Good competition.
This, after the team’s “impressive” showing at last year’s Sub-Saharan Africa regional finals, according to a Huawei SA statement.
e-Kasi Care, which formed part of the 2024 cohort of Huawei SA’s Seeds for the Future programme, uses virtual medical consultations to help close the healthcare gap in rural SA.
Due to limited healthcare practitioners and facilities in rural communities, e-Kasi Care offers a solution to address these challenges through a real-time feed solution.
The system records and relays a patient’s medical data, to help doctors, who are available through virtual consultations, make speedy diagnoses that can lead to life-saving interventions.
By collecting data from thermal cameras and heart rate monitors, and integrating cloud-based analysis tools, e-Kasi Care can diagnose certain illnesses with an accuracy rate of 94%, says the statement.
Huawei SA deputy CEO Charles Cheng comments on the progress that students have made in the programme: “This cohort from South Africa has exceeded expectations and set a new standard for future applicants.
“We cannot wait to see the e-Kasi team’s broader impact as they show the world how meaningful solutions can be developed when social issues and technology intersect.”
Communications and digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi previously took to X (formerly Twitter) to describe the e-Kasi project as a “groundbreaking initiative”.
“Young people and the solutions they create are the key to building a prosperous South Africa. From innovating in health service delivery, to unlocking economic opportunities, digital skills initiatives must be supported so the youth are empowered to build the future they desire for themselves.”
Seeds for the Future is Huawei's global social responsibility initiative. In SA, it partnered with the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies in 2016, to run the ICT training programme locally.
The Tech4Good competition was added to Seeds for the Future to encourage the participants to team up and find ICT solutions that can address common social issues.
The global innovation final of the Tech4Good competition, where e-Kasi Care will compete, will take place in China, in April.
In addition, team leader of the e-Kasi Care project, Thirushan Pather, has been selected as a global ambassador for the Seeds for the Future programme.
The computer engineering student from the University of Pretoria says he has always been fascinated by artificial intelligence, robotics and software development.
“Huawei’s Seeds for the Future programme was an eye-opening experience that broadened my perspective on the intersection of technology, start-ups and business models.”
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