The most widely-used mHealth program in the world

The explosion of mobile phones and web access across the developing world have made possible a whole new range of scalable, sustainable applications. DataDyne's multiple-award-winning EpiSurveyor.org is the first such application: taking a cue from Google and Facebook, we've created a mobile-phone-and-web-based data collection system that you can have up and running in an hour or less (think of the first time you logged into Gmail) without consultants or meetings or contracts or MOUs. And did we mention it's free?

That kind of power and simplicity have made EpiSurveyor by far the most widely-used mHealth software in the world, with thousands of users in hundreds of organizations -- including 15 sub-Saharan African countries in conjunction with the World Health Organization's African Regional Office (WHO/AFRO).

Our MIP technology is aiming to do the same thing for SMS communications by making it just as easy for anyone to broadcast SMS messages for your NGO, program, school, or just the general public. Currently being piloted in Chile and Peru, MIP will come online for everyone in 2010.

Small but powerful

Formed in 2003 by physician/epidemiologist Joel Selanikio, formerly of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and technologist Rose Donna, formerly of the American Red Cross, and funded by the United Nations Foundation and the Vodafone Foundation, DataDyne has consistently made an impact far beyond its small size, winning awards including:

• The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award for Healthcare IT
• The Lemelson-MIT Award for Sustainability
• The World Bank's Development Marketplace Competition
• The Stockholm Challenge Award
• The Tech Museum Award

And we were named a 2009 Social Enterprise of the Year by Fast Company Magazine!

Building country capacity

As co-developer, with Dimagi, of the "Coded in Country" concept, DataDyne believes that increasing the capacity of developing countries to create new software is a critical skill, and we are leading by example: EpiSurveyor is almost entirely programmed in Kenya by our excellent team of developers, with development for MIP centered in Chile.