mHealth & Wellness Innovation Ecosystem (Section C: Implementation instance)

Abstract

Against the background of the conceptualisation of a Digital Health Innovation Ecosystem within the South African context, this chapter will present a localised mHealth & Wellness Innovation Ecosystem. As outlined in the previous chapter, a sustainable Digital Health System necessitates a system that is adaptable, teachable and capable of reacting to changes and new challenges. This would oblige the inclusion of strong competencies for local innovation and problem analysis as credible localised innovation capabilities. The development and facilitation of such a local talent pool cannot be a theoretical exercise and would need to be crafted as a practical endeavour within a suitable domain. Unlocking and stimulating an mHealth Innovation Ecosystem is aligned with the ICT Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Implementation Roadmap for South Africa (Mjawara, 2012) as it leverages advances in ICT to create a digital advantage at individual, industrial and societal level. This will support the National Development Plan’s (National Planning Commission, 2011) vision for: a) an economy that will create more jobs through increasing “the size and effectiveness of the innovation system, and ensur[ing] closer alignment with companies that operate in sectors consistent with the growth strategy”; b) improving the quality of education, training and innovation through “a wider system of innovation that links key public institutions (universities and science councils) with areas of the economy consistent with our economic priorities”; and c) quality health care for all through “better patient information systems supporting more decentralised and home-based care models”.The rest of this chapter is structured as follows. Section 8.2 builds on the narrative from Section A, Chapter 1 and 2, to highlight the mHealth implementation landscape and give an overview of the strategic innovation opportunities in mHealth in South Africa. Section 8.3 builds on Section B and looks at the implementation environment. Section 8.4 presents the specific intervention and highlights some of the lessons learnt. Section 8.5 concludes the chapter by presenting a way forward.