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Oct 23 2014
Management

Challenge Creates Online Community to Fight Ebola Epidemic

Some 700 Internet users have joined a government-backed effort to foster ideas and solutions for combating the Ebola crisis.
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Nicole is a social media journalist for the CDW family of technology magazines.

How might we rapidly equip and empower the care community to fight Ebola?

That’s the question being posed to a global network of experts, doctors and everyday people across the Internet collaborating to find solutions to the Ebola crisis through the OpenIDEO Fighting Ebola Challenge.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is one of several agencies teaming with open source innovation platform OpenIDEO to manage the challenge and foster ideas, research and leads that could materialize into new tools for combating the deadly Ebola virus.

The effort stems from USAID’s recently launched Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development. People who submit strong ideas to the OpenIDEO Challenge will be encouraged to apply for funding under the Grand Challenge for Development. In September, President Barack Obama called on everyone to participate.

As of publication time on Thursday, 700 people were following the challenge. People have made 294 research contributions, sharing existing initiatives, experiences and perspectives on the Ebola epidemic; they have also offered 330 ideas, including the use of caregiving robots to augment human care. No idea or submission is considered insignificant. OpenIDEO encourages submissions from all parties, but cautions that it doesn’t endorse contributions as factual or as effective solutions for fighting Ebola.

“You don’t have to be an expert in healthcare or infectious disease to contribute your insights and ideas — in fact, some of the brightest solutions may be found in the most unthinkable corners,” OpenIDEO notes on its website.

Fighting Ebola One Mission at a Time

The OpenIDEO Fighting Ebola Challenge is focused on fighting the health crisis caused by the deadly virus through key mission areas, such as strengthening health care capacities and boosting tracking and communication. Participants also are encouraged to add new missions. The challenge is generating ideas to:

• Enhance the protective equipment, care setting and tools used in the field to empower and protect healthcare workers

• Ensure that communities receive and respond to timely, accurate and actionable information about Ebola prevention and treatment

• Use data collection and analysis tools to increase our understanding of the disease, better track exposure and enhance communication

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