Richard's Blog

 Archive for the ‘Bangladesh’ Category

ComJagat magazine which is a Bangladesh Computer Technology magazine recently published an interview with me titled: “Therap CEO Richard Robbins Recognizes: In Bangladesh Technology Sector Is Moving in Right Direction”

Yesterday I visited Brac University in Dhaka.  Brac University is affiliated with Brac which is involved in sectors such as microfinance, education and health services to reduce poverty.

I had some interesting discussions on the use of mobile apps in rural villages for tracking various health information. There are many villages with limited electricity and limited telephone land lines. We discussed using mobile apps to track information for various topics including TB, cholera and disabilities.  Therap is already tracking and storing much of the information for agencies using our application in the US.

A couple of interesting notes on concerns that were raised. One was that where to store the data is a significant issue. It is not that difficult to create an app (at least for programmers) which asks relevant questions regarding a specific disease or condition.  The challenge is where to put that data.  If someone is in a rural village in Bangladesh (or anywhere in the world) it is not useful to have data just on a local cellphone. It doesn’t allow public health officials to spot trends or aggregate data.  So you have to get it to someplace like Therap that has equipment to receive and store data in a usable format.  Otherwise mobile phones aren’t much more useful than pen and paper which is how data is collected now.

Even beyond the capability to store the data is doing it so only the right people can access, enter, change and view the data. That is something Therap has significant expertise in given our compliance with HIPAA and other regulations.

I look forward to further discussions on this issue. We hope to work on some pilot programs with appropriate NGOs in Bangladesh on these issues.