In 2006 alone, aid organizations such as the Measles Initiative and UNICEF distributed almost 20 million bed nets to prevent Malaria submission in ten African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria. The distribution and supply management of bed nets, and the follow-up surveys of recipients of bed nets --insecticide-treated nets that can reduce malaria transmission of as much as 90% in areas with high coverage rates--is a daunting logistical challenge.
Aid organizations everywhere are discovering that mobile phones are an essential part in managing supplies and distribution of nets, food, and other aid. Rapid Android is a new tool now being tested in Nigeria by UNICEF for the distribution of bed nets. Rapid Android is a supply chain management and data collection tool built on Android, the open source operating system developed by The Open Handset Alliance and Google.Â
At the recent web4dev conference, I interviewed Jonathan Jackson of Dimagi, a mobile development firm, which built the applicationfor UNICEF's Innovation Unit, about Rapid Android. He is walking us through the application -- what is does, and how it works. The video was shot on a Nokia N95 at UNICEF in New York. Â
For more on mobile data collection, see also our review of tools.
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