PRESS RELEASE
Presentations to Lessen Suffering Sought at IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference
WASHINGTON (12 April 2017) — A large number of the 2.2 million people living in the Tharparker district of Pakistan’s Sindh province are afflicted with debilitating diseases. Hepatitis, tuberculosis, snake bites and malaria, combined with malnutrition and poor health care, result in high death tolls.
IEEE volunteers decided to do something about it. They went to the village of Mithi, where proper sanitation and reliable electricity are sorely lacking. There they used communications technologies to establish a telemedicine unit.
Through video conferencing and other electronic means, health data is transmitted to physicians in Hyderabad. This has greatly improved the disease diagnosis and treatment.
Sarang Shaikh, treasurer of the IEEE Karachi Section, discussed the project at the 2015 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC). He said the Mithi initiative was the brainchild of Pakistani college students.
“People living there had to travel 200 kilometers just to take simple advice from a doctor,” Shaikh said. “So [the students] came up with an idea to establish a telemedicine unit network and remotely cure the patients.”
2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference
GHTC 2017 organizers want to learn new ways technology is being used to address the socio-cultural and socio-economic needs of vulnerable and resource-deficient communities. They seek papers, posters, workshops and panel sessions by 23 April.
Presentations will be delivered at the DoubleTree by Hilton in San Jose, Calif., 19-22 October. 2017.ieeeghtc.org/. Key focus areas include:
* Poverty Alleviation
* Health Care
* Agriculture & Food Security
* Quality Education
* Affordable & Clean Energy
* Clean Water & Sanitation
* Connectivity & Communication
* Humanitarian Challenges & Opportunities
* Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response & Recovery
* Other United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
Researchers, funders, educators, policymakers, practitioners and end-user community representatives are encouraged to attend and contribute. See submission guidelines at http://2017.ieeeghtc.org/important-submission-information.
GHTC is organized by IEEE Region 6 (Western United States) and the IEEE Santa Clara Valley Section. IEEE-USA is a technical co-sponsor.
IEEE-USA serves the public good and promotes the careers and public policy interests of nearly 190,000 engineering, computing and technology professionals who are U.S. members of IEEE.
PRESS RELEASE
San Jose (Calif.) (March 17, 2017) – The 7th IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) announces Notice of Competition: Call for Solutions
2017 Global Humanitarian Technology Solutions Challenge
Ensuring sustainable food consumption and production
The IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) in collaboration with Global Good/Intellectual Ventures is hosting a design competition for solutions to the global food waste challenge. The solution can address any element or issue that relates to the food supply and production chain including crop production, processing, post-harvest losses, retail distribution, consumer use and lost product.
The competition runs from March 1st, 2017 to September 12th, 2017.
The project solution can be developed by individuals or by a Solutions Challenge Team. To be eligible to enter the GHTC Solutions Challenge, at least one team members must be an IEEE member in good standing at the time that the entry is submitted. A Project Statement of Intent to submit a solution must be provided July 15th, 2017. The Statement of Intent can be submitted as a video (2-minute maximum) or written statement (250-word maximum). The Statement of Intent provides a basic description of the project and project scope. The Statement of Intent must also provide the names, university affiliation (as applicable) and academic discipline of each team member.
Solution Submission must be provided not later than September 12th, 2017. The submission may be a video (10-minute maximum) or written paper (5,000-word maximum). The project can be a working prototype, scale model, detailed engineering specifications, an in-installation process or a fully operational project. The description must provide the description, impact (anticipated or real), costs, installation (real or concept).
Solutions Challenge Teams will be judged on the creativity and applicability of their design, completeness of their documentation, and quality of their presentation. The winning team will be notified not later than October 1st, 2017.
The guidelines for the Solutions Design Challenge are at the 2017 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC 2017) site: http://www.ieeeghtc.org/ or http://2017.ieeeghtc.org
For additional information about the Global Humanitarian Technology Solutions Challenge, detailed descriptions of the challenges and how to become involved, contact GHTCsolutions@ieee.org.