110 likes | 191 Views
CycleTel ™ in India: From Proof-of-Concept to Deployment. Meredith Puleio & Victoria Jennings Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown University.
E N D
CycleTel™ in India: From Proof-of-Concept to Deployment • Meredith Puleio & Victoria Jennings • Institute for Reproductive Health, • Georgetown University
CycleTel™ Concept Facilitate use of the Standard Days Method® by alerting women of their fertile days via SMSTarget Audience Women/couples who:- are non-method or traditional FP method users- own a mobile phone- send/receive SMS
“I am mostly free at that time of day. It maintains privacy.” – Female “This is an idea that can change your life!” –Male Value of Formative Research • Established Need & Demand • Both men and women are interested • 100% wanted to continue the service • All would recommend to friends • Determined Product Design Before Investing Significant Resources • 100% said it was the right # of messages • Timing of messages should be between 5-10pm • Messages should be in Hinglish • Hotline is a necessity • 100% of users would pay for the service on top of the normal cost for sending messages (range: Rs25-50 per month)
Beyond Proof-of-Concept: Identifying Partners • Software development company • Hosting environment • SMS gateway provider v. telecoms • Call center support • SMS aggregator • Research organization(s) • Marketing agencies • Donors • Ministry of Health? Government Officials? • Non-profit organizations
What’s in a Tech Partner? • Agile—constant feedback & communication loops • How do they describe & embody innovation? • Local knowledge of technology/mobile environment • Importance of global scope • Social impact interest
Planning for Sustainable Scale-up • Decide “ownership” • Establish technical advisory group • Apply a model for scale-up • Plan for M&E of scale-up • Test business models • Identify & mitigate risks along the way The ExpandNet/WHO Scaling-Up Model Refer to http://www.expandnet.net/tools.htm
Key Considerations for Launching an mHealth Application • Value of formative research & leveraging open source software • Deployment environment is much more complex than anticipated • Don’t underestimate timeline of events & value of solid partners • Plan, talk, listen, plan: People are willing to help! • Look to “new product development” literature Citation: Chris Blow, Ushahidi Community Member Available at: http://blog.ushahidi.com/index.php/2010/05/19/allocation-of-time-deploying-ushahidi/