90
A. Mantzavinou et al.
session ensues to allow team formation. Teams spend the subsequent event duration
“hacking” their projects, receiving guidance from mentors with expertise related to
health care, engineering, business development, and other key areas.
At the conclusion of the event, the hackathon teams present their work to the
judging panel and the rest of the participants. Presentations are limited to a 3-minute
pitch capturing the clinical need, ideas for a solution, any prototypes created during
the hackathon, and a business model. Prizes may include monetary awards, sponsored
internships, support from startup incubators, and funds for pilot studies.
8.2.3 The MIT Hacking Medicine Model Applied to
Hackathons in LMICs by CAMTech
CAMTech first partnered with MIT Hacking Medicine in 2012 to organize a
hackathon in Boston focused on affordable medical technology for LMICs. The
collaboration extended to a global health track sponsored by CAMTech in the 2014
and 2015 Grand Hacks, held in Cambridge MA. CAMTech further adapted the MIT
Hacking Medicine health hackathon model to the LMIC health needs and innovation potential by bringing health hackathons to India and Uganda. In collaboration
with MIT Hacking Medicine, CAMTech has organized eight international events in
these two countries over the past 3 years. Participants and mentors from the India
and Uganda ecosystems created through these local events have then joined their
US-based counterparts in the 2014 and 2015 Grand Hacks, giving a voice to the
LMIC setting in the Cambridge-based events. CAMTech has also organized Boston
hackathons with a focus on pressing global health challenges in partnership with
MIT Hacking Medicine, including a Stop Ebola hackathon held in 2015 at MGH and
a Global Cancer Innovation hackathon held in 2016 at MGH.
Through this relationship, the authors have found that the hackathon model can
be adapted to an LMIC setting in a straightforward manner, and presents a unique
opportunity to involve local stakeholders to work toward the betterment of their
community. More so than in the resource-rich parts of the world, in LMICs, physicians may never brush shoulders with software engineers, and business people may
never cross paths with technology designers. A local health hackathon puts these
unlikely players together at the same drawing board, encouraging different perspectives, experiences, and expertises to play off each other and so championing locally
driven, sustainable healthcare improvements in a groundbreaking way.
8.3 Potential for Development Impact
Solutions coming from healthcare stakeholders in LMICs inspire entrepreneurship
and confidence in the community (Morel et al. 2005a, b). By involving key figures
A. Mantzavinou et al.
session ensues to allow team formation. Teams spend the subsequent event duration
“hacking” their projects, receiving guidance from mentors with expertise related to
health care, engineering, business development, and other key areas.
At the conclusion of the event, the hackathon teams present their work to the
judging panel and the rest of the participants. Presentations are limited to a 3-minute
pitch capturing the clinical need, ideas for a solution, any prototypes created during
the hackathon, and a business model. Prizes may include monetary awards, sponsored
internships, support from startup incubators, and funds for pilot studies.
8.2.3 The MIT Hacking Medicine Model Applied to
Hackathons in LMICs by CAMTech
CAMTech first partnered with MIT Hacking Medicine in 2012 to organize a
hackathon in Boston focused on affordable medical technology for LMICs. The
collaboration extended to a global health track sponsored by CAMTech in the 2014
and 2015 Grand Hacks, held in Cambridge MA. CAMTech further adapted the MIT
Hacking Medicine health hackathon model to the LMIC health needs and innovation potential by bringing health hackathons to India and Uganda. In collaboration
with MIT Hacking Medicine, CAMTech has organized eight international events in
these two countries over the past 3 years. Participants and mentors from the India
and Uganda ecosystems created through these local events have then joined their
US-based counterparts in the 2014 and 2015 Grand Hacks, giving a voice to the
LMIC setting in the Cambridge-based events. CAMTech has also organized Boston
hackathons with a focus on pressing global health challenges in partnership with
MIT Hacking Medicine, including a Stop Ebola hackathon held in 2015 at MGH and
a Global Cancer Innovation hackathon held in 2016 at MGH.
Through this relationship, the authors have found that the hackathon model can
be adapted to an LMIC setting in a straightforward manner, and presents a unique
opportunity to involve local stakeholders to work toward the betterment of their
community. More so than in the resource-rich parts of the world, in LMICs, physicians may never brush shoulders with software engineers, and business people may
never cross paths with technology designers. A local health hackathon puts these
unlikely players together at the same drawing board, encouraging different perspectives, experiences, and expertises to play off each other and so championing locally
driven, sustainable healthcare improvements in a groundbreaking way.
8.3 Potential for Development Impact
Solutions coming from healthcare stakeholders in LMICs inspire entrepreneurship
and confidence in the community (Morel et al. 2005a, b). By involving key figures