Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme

The Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme (DHIAP) supported scalable digital solutions using open standards and approaches to creating global goods. These solutions focused on building and supporting pandemic preparedness capabilities, speeding up demand-driven vaccine distribution and restoring communities and health systems.

The Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme included two chapters: Open Challenge - focused on supporting innovators deploying solutions in any low- and middle-income country, and Local Challenges - focused on supporting innovators implementing their solutions in Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo. Selected teams received financial, technical and methodological support from the WFP Innovation Accelerator and other partners through the WFP sprint programme.

Launched in 2021, the Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme was powered by the WFP Innovation Accelerator and BMZ digilab, the innovation lab for digital solutions. It was initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in collaboration with GIZ, the German Development Bank KfW, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme closed its sprint and programming in 2024.

Selected ventures

Sprint programmes offer an opportunity for ventures to refine their business models, pilot solutions or bring them to scale. After a competitive selection process, these eight ventures were selected to participate in a sprint programme. Each venture received coaching, mentorship and access to the SDGx community and other networks. They also received up to US$250,000 in equity-free grant funding to implement a unique sprint project.

OpenFN Lightning

Open Challenge | OpenFn Lightning is an open-source, modular platform that allows non-technical users to easily build, run and audit data integration workflows and automations, with a particular focus on health system users. The system reduces the time and cost required to set up secure, interoperable health systems and lower the technical barrier for users to perform these integrations.

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MedTrack

Open Challenge | MedTrack is a cloud-based universal Electronic Health Record (EHR) that enables health providers to access patient medical history in real-time through an easy-to-use web application without additional hardware or software installation. By linking health records with national digital identity numbers, MedTrack standardizes health data that can be securely accessed across facilities, ensuring continuity of care and reducing duplication.

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Simprints Digital ID

Open Challenge | Simprints has developed a safe and inclusive biometric digital ID to eliminate duplicate records, decrease artificial inflation and verify vaccine delivery. The solution enables seamless integration with national health system records and other applications to look up patient records through biometrics. As an open-sourced technology, Simprints has created the world’s first open, ethical and inclusive digital ID to strengthen immunization campaigns globally.

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Flowminder

Local Challenge | Flowminder tackles the problem of inaccurate population data in data-scarce environments due to insufficient accounting for population mobility. Flowminder leverages, processes and analyses anonymized Call Detail Records data from mobile network operators to create accurate and dynamic population estimates. These population estimates can subsequently be integrated into official statistics for various use cases. The WFP Innovation Accelerator supported Flowmider as it tested the value of integrating Call Detail Record-derived dynamic population estimates into key health metrics for the Ghana Health Service in non-emergency and non-pandemic conditions.

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K-HEALTH by Kajou

Local Challenge | K-HEALTH by Kajou proposes a technology to overcome the binary issues of access and accessibility of health workers. This suite of solutions involves e-learning-enabled microSD cards that health workers can insert into their smartphones and, through the Kajou app, transform the phone into an offline library that fits in their pocket. The app allows users to read the content of microSD cards and offers internet-like navigation with advanced interactivity, tests and certification features. Through the Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme, the WFP Innovation Accelerator supported K-HEALTH in expanding its services into Côte d'Ivoire, where it produced and distributed localized health training modules in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other local health stakeholders.

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LoMIS by eHealthAfrica

Local Challenge | Logistic Management Information Systems (LoMIS) is a suite of offline-capable mobile and web applications “LoMIS Stock” and “LoMIS Deliver,” which address challenges with the supply or distribution of health commodities to last-mile health facilities. The solution enables stakeholders to get near real-time visibility of stock levels at health facilities and tracking of health commodities in transit for effective planning and decision-making.

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Erith

Local Challenge | Erith provides training to health workers using simplified training modules in English, French and local languages for easy access for all staff in the healthcare industry. Those who have expertise in certain fields of practice are also able to join the platform as tutors and offer peer-to-peer advice and knowledge sharing. Through the Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme, the WFP Innovation Accelerator provided support for Erith to make their e-learning and e-commerce platforms interoperable and enhance the range of free, streamlined courses for health workers. Erith also made their products and services available offline through an offline SMS service and offered the course materials in Krio, French and English.

iHRIS by IntraHealth

Local Challenge | iHRIS is a free, open-source system that provides oversight of the health workforce, including those who are training, in service or leaving service, and enables better workforce management. iHRIS uses an open, flexible interface for custom integrations as needed, and it can be integrated into the Togo Health Management Information Systems. The WFP Innovation Accelerator supported iHRIS through the Digital Health Innovation Accelerator Programme in developing monitoring, evaluation and learning frameworks to measure the results of their training programmes for health workers. This included providing tailored guidance on data collection, analysis and reporting to ensure measurable outcomes and continuous improvement.

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