Summary of Coopen Summit | Voices of African Innovation 2023

The digital curtain is falling, but the spotlights are not turning off today to Coopen Summit | Voices of African Innovation 2023, the international event dedicated to the Coopen initiative, that is part of the Innovation for Development program promoted by Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione Compagnia San Paolo, and is managed by Cariplo Factory, with the contribution of JengaLab, Centro Tiresia of the Politecnico di Milano and Effecinque.    

Coopen is a participatory process of open innovation to implement impact solutions between Italy and Africa, facilitating partnerships between Civil Society Organisations and innovators between Italy and Africa. In recent years the initiatives implemented within Coopen have worked to respond to urgent needs in the fields of sustainable agriculture, health and well-being and circular economy. The projects have landed among the communities in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal, and Uganda. 

In the framework of the Coopen Summit | Voices of African Innovation 2023, celebrated on 18 April 2023, 7 Civil Society Organizations and 7 Innovators pitched their projects dedicated to #Health and #Well-being, in response to the challenge areas of the Call for Innovators Health and Well-being : 

• Promotion of training of qualified medical and health personnel 
• Maintenance of medical equipment 
• Construction of sanitary environments and infrastructures 
• Collection and organization of clinical data 
• Prevention in local communities and vulnerable groups

Discover the Partnerships of Coopen Summit | Voices of African Innovation 2023

Innovation for inclusion | CBM Italia – Medere SRL 

The I4I project aims to improve the life of people with disabilities by enhancing the quality of inclusive rehabilitation services at CoRSU hospital in Uganda.  

A new maternity in Kassak North, Senegal | Rainbow For Africa - Chiwarà 

The project aims to improve the hygienic and sanitary conditions of the maternity hospital in the Senegalese village of Kassak North, with a specific focus on protecting the health and well-being of pregnant women and children between the ages of 0 and 14.    

Kokono Cribs: going safe & green | AMREF HEALTH AFRICA & De-LAB srl SB 

The project contributes to reducing infant mortality by supporting maternal and child health and safety in Uganda, with the on-site production and distribution of multi-purpose, low-impact cribs named.  

Introducing innovative educational models for health personnel in Kenya | Comunità di S. Egidio ACAP - Ilara Health.  

The project eases the collection of clinical digital data – through user-friendly technologies – in remote and rural contexts in Kenya.   

A new medical Learning Hub for St.Mary’Hospital | Fondazione Corti – Tech Care For All (TC4A) 

MLH supported St. Mary’s Lacor Hospital in implementing a mobile eLearning plan for routine CMEs in Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health themes.   

Better innovative solutions and informatic leadership | COL’OR NGO – AfyaRekod 

The project eases the collection of clinical digital data – through user-friendly technologies – in remote and rural contexts in Kenya.   

Improving Evidence-based Management of Hospital Health Services in Uganda | Medici con l’Africa CUAMM  – Digital Health Uganda 

The project aims to improve the delivery of health services at Aber Hospital by streamlining the collection and organization of patients’ clinical data and integrating different health information management platforms.   

Discover the speaker of Coopen Summit | Voices of African Innovation 2023

“Identifying, developing and scaling up innovative solutions that can meet the demands and challenges for Equitable and Quality Health Care, regarding maternal and child health, immunization and nutrition: these are the Global Health priorities of Unicef”. 

Madison Marks, Portfolio Strategist, UNICEF Venture Fund   

“AICS has worked to develop technological innovations in the field of health, among which developed telemedicine has a crucial role, developed in Peru and Bolivia, in order to provide health care to communities living in remote mountain areas”. 

Denise Pavia, Office AICS 

“Techne it’s a netwok composed by universities, institution, humanitarian and international organizations that work in collaboration to develop technical intervention that are at the service of the Ministers of Health, other agencies and big international organizations, thanks to specialists that are able to share technical expertise connecting health, building, design and engineering discipline”. 

Michele di Marco, Téchne coordinator Architect & Disaster Risk Reduction specialist, WHO   

“In a context in which there is increasing interest in digitalisation we adopt an ecosystem approach to support digital transformation by providing a system where every stakholder can access high-quality data for decision making”. 

Steve Ollis, Project Director, Country Health Information Systems and Data Use, JSI  

“PATH works to accelerate health equity togheter different institutions, businesses, social entrepresises, investors, to solve the world’s most pressing health challenges. Remote procedures and interoperability between different institutions of the public private sector are just a few motivations that push us to worry about the future of innovation”. 

Johnpaul Omollo, Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer, PATH 

“The mission of World Health Organization is to ensure the health of all, regardless of their status or geographical area of origin, based on a type of innovation that responds to a public health need that has the ability to accelerate and support the positive impact of health, a goal that we aim to achieve by 2030”. 

Louise Agersnap, Head Department for Digital Health & Innovation, World Health Organization