On November 3, 2022, the 10th edition of Digital Health Connect will take place. During this unique event, the best experts in terms of a more sustainable medicine will gather to offer you an in-depth insight on the topic. During our unique keynotes we will have the honor to welcome Dr Solomzi Makohliso, the Deputy Head of the EssentialTech Center at EPFL.
EssentialTech Center, harnessing science and technology to drive sustainable development, humanitarian action and peace
The EPFL EssentialTech Center harnesses science and technology to drive sustainable development, humanitarian action and peace. They develop sustainable and scalable solutions to address unmet needs, notably in lowincome and vulnerable contexts. Working from concept definition to technology transfer, their core activities include systems engineering, contextual guidance and developing sustainable business models for the projects. They also provide expertise to international organizations and partnership initiatives in their focus areas of action. The unique approach pioneered by the Centre rests on three pillars: cooperation with stakeholders in areas affected by poverty and crisis, interdisciplinarity and entrepreneurship.
EssentialTech’s three divisions are built along the lines of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace (HDP) triple nexus described by the United Nations as capturing the interlinkages between these sectors. The nexus is based on the recognition that perennial and specific problems in many countries and communities can be traced to a combination of three factors: Poverty, inequality and underdevelopment; humanitarian crises; and armed conflicts and violence. While the proportion of one factor or another may differ from one community or another and over time, sustainably addressing the roots of the issues has to respect their interconnectedness. When you aim to address an issue in one sector, you will drive change (for good or bad) in the other two.
In their activities, they therefore consider the impact on all three, not just the immediate issue. The environmental impact of any intervention is also a prime consideration, as no improvement to people’s lives is sustainable over time if it harms our natural world.
Dr Solomzi Makohliso, the Deputy Head of the EssentialTech Center
Dr. Solomzi (Soli) Makohliso is Deputy Director of the Essentialtech Center at EPFL, an R&D center that contributes to the creation of industrialized medical technologies in developing countries with a focus on sustainability (Pristem, Hello mask, Rehab Impulse,…). Their objective is to enable the development of essential technologies, adapted to the context of Southern countries, and also models to ensure their sustainable impact.
It will shed light on how technology can contribute to better access to diagnosis and care in the world. What health projects is the Essential Tech Center involved in and how do they define essential technology? What is their approach to building simpler, sustainable, low-waste, affordable health technology solutions? How do they incorporate the question of business model into their thinking?
Register now to attend this conference: Registration – Digital Health Connect