USAID, "Last Mile" ICT Initiative

Global health tasks can be conceptually divided into research, disease surveillance, health education, and health programs. In much of the developing world populations are quickly connecting to telecommunication networks via mobile phone systems. As new wireless systems come online, there is great potential to expand current global health activities. There are difficulties, however, in building the "last mile" of communications systems. To help bridge that information and communication technology (ICT) divide, USAID has funded engineering research through the Last Mile Initiative. The effort was recently profiled on the Development Gateway.

In the fall of 2005, under the supervision of Principal Investigator, Dr. Michael Best, thirteen students from the Georgia Institute of Technology came together as USAID Last Mile ICT Initiative (LMI) Innovation Fellows. This activity took place within the framework of USAID's Last Mile Innovation Committee managed by dot-ORG. The students' job was to provide fresh and dynamic new perspectives into LMI programs in Africa, S.E. Europe, and Latin America. These student research fellows came from every major discipline represented at Georgia Tech, including International Affairs, Computer Science, Industrial Engineering, Engineering Psychology, Mechanical Engineering, and Industrial Design. The results of these activities are contained in a volume titled "Last Mile Initiative Innovations: Research Findings from the Georgia Institute of Technology"

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