We are doing things differently!
In November last year, we launched the first of its kind in Nigeria; the #Governance Innovation Lifecycle Challenge and Accelerator in Ekiti State. This novel programme will enable us put governance innovation and technology at the core of solving health service delivery problems mainly through citizens engagement. Our journey so far: Ekiti, is, working
It has been six months of our partners: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Governance Lab (MIT GOV/LAB), Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) and Gatefield training and supporting the State teams through the Governance Innovation Framework, to come up with innovative technology driven solutions.
Yesterday, the State teams: Episurv and Qualicare pitched their technology-driven solutions to address health security and quality service delivery issues.
The quality of care (Qualicare) team proposed an electronic Health Consumer Engagement Platform called “Agbodegba Ulera”. This solution is designed to collect and analyse service delivery feedback from patients in Public facilities within Ekiti State, enabling facilities and the government appraise and improve the quality of services delivered.
The health security (Episurv) team proposed an electronic community-based reporting system that engages members of the community as outbreak informants. This solution will use three simple digital channels to collect case-based information from members of the community, reducing outbreak response time and cost.
Both teams performed excellently well and the Qualicare team emerged as the winner of the pitch.
In the next phase, our lead partner MIT/GOVLAB will provide full technical support to the Qualicare team to develop the solution technology. Both teams will also have an opportunity to present their work to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology community.
In all of this, what has stood out to me is the importance of partnerships to birth and scale ideas. Working with MIT/GOVLAB, Cc-Hub and Gatefield, we are able to leverage different segments of the development ecosystem such as governance, policy, innovation, technology and human centred design to birth homegrown solutions to service delivery and health security.
Frankly, partnership is the oil that keeps the development engine running.
I am proud of both teams who have worked hard in the past six months to get to this place. Their resolve and agility are commendable.
As a government, we remain committed to providing the political will, authorising environment and resources to improve health outcomes in Ekiti State.
Truly, we are doing things differently!
