A new platform for Africans to tackle health on the continent has been launched by the University of Cape Town. The Inclusive Healthcare Innovation Initiative (IHII), will focus on generating creative and innovative solutions that cut across disciplines and sectors. It is a joint initiative of the UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) and the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences. 

To mark the launch of the Initiative, UCT will host the Hacking Health 2014 healthcare innovation hackathon in Cape Town on 24 & 25 January 2014. 

The hackathon, to be held at Groote Schuur Hospital, will be the first of its kind in South Africa. Based on a proven international innovation model, this event is aimed at exposing participants to the role technology can play in transforming healthcare delivery in an African context, and will give participants the opportunity to create and build innovative mobile health applications that address real and pressing health challenges. 

It will be an opportunity for healthcare workers, students and software developers to come together in a real healthcare setting and to be facilitated through the human-design process by a skilled facilitator. The goal is for each team to produce a workable prototype that can be showcased and matched with a sustainable business model. Teams will present their work at the Inclusive Healthcare Innovation Summit (IHIS), held the following week.

Although entry to the event is R250, the eventual winner will walk away with a grand prize worth R15 000. For more information on the event, visit http://gsbblogs.uct.ac.za/inclusivehealth/hackathon/