Realizations from my second trip to the Social Good Summit

Andrew    Uncategorized    

Last week, I attended the 2011 Social Good Summit in New York City where dozens of guest speakers talked about the role technology can play in making the world, specifically the developing world, a better place.  The two big realizations I had this year were 1) Mobile technology has the power to connect millions of people who live far from hospitals, doctors, schools and emergency care and 2) How the growing movement to empower girls and women everywhere can have such a profound effect on global health.

Today, health workers use cell phones in the field to collect data on pregnancies, help with diagnosis and to send reminders to sick individuals to take important antibiotics.  Phones are so inexpensive that almost anyone can afford one, creating two way communications where there previously wasn’t any other than face to face. It is truly the first form of communications technology that can be used regardless if you are rich or poor.   People can reach health workers, any time of day, and ask medical questions or call for help.  I was amazed to find out that the camera on the phone can be used to take a photo of a blood sample and send it to a lab for diagnosis.  Through this use of mobile technology, millions of  people who live long distances from hospitals, doctors or health workers are not without some sort of access to answers.

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