Academy for Educational Development

What technology do I need to use to solve this problem?” Regardless of the sector or geographic location, development projects often begin with that question.

Small, mobile computing devices have become a very common answer. And for good reason.

Personal digital assistants, or PDAs, are one such device being used more and more in development settings. PDAs have many advantages. They are easy to operate, use a minimal amount of energy, and are easy to secure.

“PDAs can store text, send emails, perform simple data analysis, run a PowerPoint, show short videos, and download and display newspapers,” said Holly Ladd, vice president and director of the AED SATELLIFE Center for Health Information and Technology, which uses handheld computing devices and other technology in all of its work. “There is a lot of functionality in that small package.”

Advances in small computing technology include “smart phones” that combine the advantages of PDAs with cellular telephone technology. But more important than the hardware, according to AED experts, is the software applications that can be written for them.

“AED’s long history of innovative work in technology ranges from creating local telecenters in Mali to establishing a national broadband service in

Macedonia,” said Mary Joy Pigozzi, senior vice president and director of the Global Learning Group.

“However, we’ve found that small technology can have a big impact as long as it is customized for the task at hand.”

TRACKING TROPICAL FISH

In the Philippines, PDAs were an essential part of an AED conservation and economic development project involving local fishermen who caught tropical fish that were then sent around the world to stock aquariums.

Because the paper-based fish orders were unclear, fishermen made it a practice to catch far more fish than were requested. The method used to stun the fish damaged the delicate coral reefs where the fish lived, so for each fish caught, more damage was done. The unnecessarily trapped fish perished.

AED provided fishermen with custom-programmed PDAs that showed pictures of the fish—because most of the fishermen are illiterate and would not recognize the written name—along with the number that should be caught. Through a partnership with local environmental conservation organizations that set standards on how much buyers should pay for the fish, standard prices were fixed, and the fishermen stopped over-harvesting.

“Technology was a carrot—or a worm—that brought about a change in behavior," said Jonathan Metzger, vice president and director of theAED Information Technology Applications Center, which oversaw the fish project. “While AED doesn’t have engineers who invent new devices, we have application specialists who create software to improve development outcomes.”

EASY, ACCURATE, COST-EFFECTIVE

Just as custom applications were developed for the fish-tracking project, programs were written specifically for AED's NetMark malaria-control project to conduct household surveys about insecticide-treated bednets in Uganda, including ownership, use, access, price, source, and demographics.

After two days of training and practice using PDAs, NetMark interviewers went out to remote regions to conduct more than 2,000 surveys that would have previously required pen and paper.

“I was surprised at how quickly people learned to use them,” said Carol Baume, senior research and evaluation officer for the NetMark project. “The technology gave the interviewers a sense of confidence and competence, and the respondents were intrigued—not worried about it at all.”

The PDAs made the data collection easier and faster, and the information was accurate, said Baume. In previous surveys, the completed paper forms were sent to a data-entry company, and it took weeks to make sure the information was all correct. But with the PDAs, that process was eliminated.

Verified data were available immediately and the project saved money because it did not have to pay for the data-entry service.

Still, some challenges came along with using the technology, said Baume. Hoping to use the same basic survey in Ethiopia, NetMark needed to change some of the questions quickly.

Spotty electricity and a lack of Internet connectivity, common challenges in resource-poor countries, made that process very difficult.

INNOVATION CREATES SOLUTIONS

AED is meeting these challenges in innovative ways. For example, to increase connectivity, AED is employing a new technology, called the African Access Point, or AAP. This technology links inexpensive PDAs to a computer hundreds or even thousands of miles away using an existing wireless telecommunications network.

Health clinic workers in Uganda and Mozambique are using PDAs to gather information. Using infrared technology, they “beam” the data to a centrally located AAP, which sends the information on to a server in the capital city. Each time a health worker uploads data, she or he simultaneously downloads information such as medical articles, updated protocols, and current data about other villages.

Both the PDAs and the AAP are solar-powered, which bypasses the need for reliable mainline electricity. And each AAP uses only one cell phone number for as many as 100 users, making it a very cost-effective solution.

AED-SATELLIFE is also developing a software program, called Gather, which will allow a central computer at the Ministry of Health in Uganda to collect data from remote areas through many different kinds of devices.

Desktop and laptop computers, PDAs, global-positioning systems, and bar-code scanners will be able to convey data to the central computer.

In addition, text messages from cellular phones, and voice messages from telephones will be able to send information.

“Access to these vital data will allow health officials to detect diseases earlier and take action to prevent epidemics,” said Ladd.

This software, which will be field-tested this summer, will enable people who are illiterate to convey information using a voice-response system over a telephone. And those who are literate, but cannot type, will have other options for gathering and communicating health data to the ministry.

In South Africa, AED-SATELLIFE is starting a project to provide nurses at the Port Elizabeth Health Complex with smart phones, which will contain clinical reference materials for them to use at the point of care.

In addition, the phones will be equipped with diagnostic tools, guidelines, and current protocols. Nurses will be able to update their information using infrared or Bluetooth technology.

And the cellular telephone will enable nurses in different buildings to stay in contact with one another.

“Computing technology is evolving rapidly,” said Ladd. “Moving forward, AED is combining its experience and knowledge with new thinking to significantly benefit development.”

For more information, contact Holly Ladd at hladd@aed.org.