Two South African ICT innovators have been included in the 10 finalists for the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA). The creators were tasked to developed practical solutions to some of the continent's most intractable problems, and have been chosen from more than 900 applications from 45 countries.
The entities, Medical Diagnostech and Mobenzi, are among four local companies included in the top 10 shortlist. The other two are not ICT firms.
"As global leaders gather for the World Economic Forum on Africa to discuss approaches to deliver on Africa's promise, these innovators demonstrate that the best way to build Africa's capacity is to invest in local innovation and entrepreneurship," says Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, a co-founder of the African Innovation Foundation and the IPA.
The winners of the IPA 2013 will be announced at a gala dinner on 7 May, in Cape Town, hosted by the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business and the Sekunjalo Development Foundation.
The winner will receive $100 000 for the best innovation, the runner-up will get $25 000 for the best commercial potential, with another finalist awarded $25 000 for social innovation.
Medi-tech
One of the finalists, Ashley Uys, MD of Medical Diagnostech, has received numerous awards for the development of the Malaria pf/PAN (pLHD) Test Kit. The rapid malaria test kit can indicate within 30 minutes if treatment is effective; and is one of only nine developed globally and the only test kit of its kind that is fully owned by an African company.
"It's a point-of-care (POC) colloidal gold lateral flow test kit that can detect as low as 100 parasites per millilitre of blood, which assists in early detection and treatment. The test kit was developed to only use five microliters of blood, have a shelf life of 24 months, and costs R4," explains Uys.
He says technology plays a critical role in bringing medical products to market that are cost-effective without compromising quality. "Medical Diagnostech utilises rapid diagnostic test (RDT) technology to achieve this. RDTs are a type of point-of-care diagnostic, meaning these assays are intended to provide diagnostic results conveniently and immediately to the patient while still at the health facility, screening site, or other healthcare provider."
Uys says receiving diagnosis at the POC reduces the need for multiple visits to receive diagnostic results, improving specificity of diagnosis and the chances the patient will receive treatment. "Rapid tests are used in a variety of POC settings - from homes to primary care clinics or emergency rooms - and many require little to no laboratory equipment or medical training."
Research mobility
Andi Friedman, along with his team, have been selected for IPA for developing the Mobenzi Researcher and Mobenzi Outreach mobile platforms that allow sophisticated forms of research to be conducted across Africa online or via mobile phones.
Mobenzi Researcher is used for the collection of baseline data through the conducting of household surveys, patient interviews and healthcare facility audits.
Mobenzi Outreach complements Researcher, unlocking the potential of real-time, contextual, mobile data availability, allowing organisations to rapidly develop solutions which cater to their specific requirements which move beyond pure data collection.
The Mobenzi platforms can be used by any organisation involved in research, data collection, community-based healthcare, agriculture, education, social development and field-based intervention projects.
"Private sector organisations with a mobile workforce can also implement the solution to improve productivity. Current clients include academic institutions, government agencies, NGOs and research companies," says Friedman.
He adds the Mobenzi platforms are used in more than 30 countries. "The software-as-a-service platforms use the Internet and GSM networks, which implies there is no real limitation to where the solution can be used."
Customers can opt for either pay-as-you-go pricing, based on the amount of data they collect, or elect to pay per mobile user.
The Mobenzi mobile app is available for feature phones (Java), Android (smartphones and tablets), BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. It can be used on more than 500 handset models, with some retailing for under R350, says Friedman. The Web console used for survey design, data management and reporting can be accessed using any modern Web browser.
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