GSMA PARTNERS WITH QTEL GROUP AND QUALCOMM TO LAUNCH MOBILE HEALTH UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE 2011/12

Second GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, May 29 – June 1, 2012

The GSMA, in partnership with the Qtel Group and Qualcomm, today launched the GSMA Mobile Health University Challenge 2011/12, a global competition that highlights key mobile health initiatives taking place within the university community and showcases them on a global stage at the GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit 2012, which will be held in at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa from May 29 to June 1, 2012.

“Pressures on the health services around the world are growing and mobile is seen as a channel to deliver a future of new innovative healthcare solutions,” said Dr Craig Fridericks, Director of Health, GSMA. “Many new developments in this area are coming out of the academic community and the GSMA, with its partners, wants to foster and stimulate this fresh thinking.”

During the challenge,teams of university students will be asked to develop a mobile health concept that will address a specific healthcare need; these concepts could take the form of a business concept or a technology development. The teams will compete to reach the challenge finals, which will be hosted at the GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit in Cape Town on May 29, 2012.

Two members of the top 10 teams will be invited, expenses paid, to attend the GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit and present their entries to a judging panel comprised of venture capitalists, major industry players and thought leaders in the mobile and heath ecosystem.The winning team will be awarded up to $5,000 worth of training and mentoring towards the future development of their innovation. 

The teams are challenged and encouraged to use their originality and creativity to create a compelling solution with a focus on several criteria:

• Commercial appeal

• Value/utility

• Innovation/uniqueness

• Significance of the healthcare challenge that the solution identifies/solves

• Use of standards and consideration of regulation challenges

• The user experience, including the user interface and effective use of APIs and technology, as applicable. 

The Qtel Group is proud to sponsor the GSMA Mobile Health University Challenge and as a supporter of the development of m-Health eco-systems for the regions of the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, this competition is in-line with our overall mHealth strategy,” said Dr. Nasser Marafih, CEO, the Qtel Group. “We aim to support innovative best practices for deploying and implementing wireless technologies and communication systems to enable access to healthcare and health-related applications and information. In particular, we are working to support initiatives that provide hard-to-reach populations with actionable public health, and which support educational development around healthcare issues.”

“Qualcomm is breaking new ground yet again, helping companies in the medical device, pharmaceutical and life services industries develop connected health solutions,” said Rick Valencia, VP and GM of Qualcomm Wireless Health. “As part of that commitment, we are very pleased to sponsor the global GSMA Mobile Health University Challenge, which assembles the brightest minds from top universities to create and develop mobile health business concepts, applications and devices that address real healthcare needs.”

GSMA-Mobile Health Alliance mHealth Summit2012

The GSMA also announced that the GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summitwill again be held in Cape Town, South Africa from May29 to June 1. This premier event will bring together the key stakeholders in the mobile health world, from leaders in government, private sector and industry, to developers and implementers working on the ground, to further the understanding and to support the improvement of health outcomes and well-being.

 

The Summit will again include a thought leadership conference programme addressing a wide range of topics and an exhibition showcase of cutting-edge mobile health solutions,as well as business development opportunities for key executives from across the mobile and health-related industries. The event attracts a wide range of stakeholders including mobile operators, insurance groups, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, research centres, equipment manufacturers, infrastructure vendors, application developers and integrators from around the world.

 

The conference and exhibition will be held on May 30 - 31, with many additional meetings, working groups and other sessions taking place on May 29 and June 1. Information about the GSMA-Mobile Health Alliance mHealth Summitcan be found at www.mobilehealthsummit.com. 

For more information on the GSMA Mobile Health University Challenge, please visit http://bmic.org/gsmachallenge