The
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sponsors Grand Challenges – a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems. Each initiative is an experiment in the use of challenges
to focus innovation on making an impact.
Individual challenges address some of the same problems, but from differing perspectives. Which brings us to these two Grand Challenges that support
digital health solutions:
Data-Centric Public Health Interventions
The scale and scope of the COVID-19 pandemic have reiterated the need for access to and analysis of timely accurate health data to support the implementation of
control measures and to guide health interventions and evidence-based practices.
The
Enabling Data-Centered Public Health Interventions Grand Challenge will develop tools and processes that are “fit-for-purpose” to facilitate collaboration among researchers in low- and middle-income countries. This
effort is focused on filling data science gaps and challenges whose solutions will address global health problems while fostering multi-disciplinary collaborations among researchers.
BMGF is specifically interested in funding proposals led by early and mid-career researchers with $250,000 USD over two years. BMGF expects each primary applicant
to have a senior scientific advisor who would commit to provide scientific and technical guidance and mentorship to the team and facilitate connections with international networks as needed.
Researchers working in healthcare, academia, industry, or research foundation should apply if they are based in any of the following regions: Africa, India, Bangladesh,
Pakistan, Nepal, and Brazil. Each proposal should be submitted by one primary applicant, but the awards require the participation of at least two research institutions from the regions listed above and not both in the same country.
Antenatal Risk Stratification in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Maternal, Newborn & Child Health Discovery & Tools team at BMGF believes that the ability to leverage digital health systems can enhance care and reduce adverse
birth outcomes in low-and-middle income countries.
One area of focus is the stratification of pregnancy risk to ensure that patients are put on the appropriate care pathway. Antenatal Risk Stratification (ARS) is
a portfolio of devices and data that predicts a pregnant woman’s risk of experiencing adverse birth outcomes in early pregnancy.
The
Antenatal Risk Stratification in Sub-Saharan Africa Grand Challenge seeks patient-facing digital health services for pregnant women that have been developed and are actively being provided in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
BMGF will consider proposals for services that can support or contribute to an ARS vision via digital applications.
Proposals should endeavor to build upon existing solutions to help support ARS and can receive $500,000 in funding over two years.
The USAID Digital Strategy RFI outlines a potential $70 million program over the next five years to
support digital development programming with USAID and in the countries where it works.
Join Our Proposal to Win New Business!
Deloitte
is developing a proposal to provide advanced research, targeted assistance, and strategic partnerships to USAID and its Missions around the world based on the Digital Strategy RFI.
We are looking for independent consultants, technology firms, development organizations, and academic institutions that have digital solution design and deployment
experience across the Pacific, Asia, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.
Read more about our proposal here.
Thanks for your interest in ICTworks - an ICT4D practitioner community. ICTworks is
an initiative of Inveneo, FHI 360, TechChange, and Intrahealth International.
