Top 11 in 2011 Innovators Challenge Now Accepting Nominations

mHealth Alliance and Rockefeller Foundation Announce Challenge to Recognize Innovators Making a Difference Using Mobile Technology

WASHINGTON, DC (October 5, 2011) – The mHealth Alliance and the Rockefeller Foundation have announced the Top 11 in 2011 Innovators Challenge, which is now accepting nominations on HealthUnbound.org (HUB). This Challenge will identify and award individuals who have used mobile technology in innovative ways to improve health systems and outcomes in even the most remote areas of the world. This is the first time these partners have come together to recognize pioneering mobile health (mHealth) professionals.

"From tracking medication availability to diagnosing treatable eye conditions, we’ve seen that innovative uses of mobile technology can have a positive impact on global health," said Karl Brown, Associate Director of applied technology at the Rockefeller Foundation and member of the Alliance’s Partnership Board. "Many of these innovations come from people and places with limited resources, making them all the more inspiring. Our goal in launching this challenge is to recognize some of those achievements and inspire other innovators to follow suit."



The Innovators Challenge is accepting nominations until October 28, after which the public will be asked to vote for the top nominees, followed by votes from a selection committee. Winners will receive an all-expense paid trip to the 2011 mHealth Summit in Washington, DC, in December and honored at a reception on December 4.

To make a nomination, individuals can submit their information via HealthUnbound.org (HUB), an interactive network and online knowledge resource center to serve as the convening point for the mobile health (mHealth) community. HUB provides spaces for in-depth dialogue about mHealth initiatives and features a user-generated database of mHealth projects, organizations, and technologies.

"HUB was created to promote collaboration and share lessons learned across the global mHealth community," said Patty Mechael, Executive Director of the mHealth Alliance. "Because of its broad and dynamic community, it is the ideal place to host the nomination and voting process for the Innovators Challenge."

To learn more about the Top 11 in 2011 Innovators Challenge, nominate an individual for the Challenge, or explore the growing mHealth community on HUB, visit www.HealthUnbound.org.

About the mHealth Alliance
The mHealth Alliance mobilizes innovation to deliver quality health at the furthest reaches of wireless networks and mobile devices. Working with diverse partners, the Alliance advances mHEalth through research, advocacy, and support for the development of interoperable solutions and sustainable deployment models. The Alliance sponsors innovation challenges and conferences, leads cross-sector mHealth initiatives, and hosts HUB (Health Unbound), a global online community for resource sharing and collaborative solution generation. Hosted by the United Nations Foundation, and founded by the UN Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Vodafone Foundation, the mHealth Alliance now also includes PEPFAR, HP, the GSM Association, and NORAD among its founding partners. For more information, visit www.mHealthAlliance.org.

About the Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission to promote the well-being of people throughout the world has remained unchanged since its founding in 1913. Today, that mission is applied to an era of rapid globalization. Our vision is that this century will be one in which globalization’s benefits are more widely shared and its challenges are more easily weathered. To realize this vision, the Foundation seeks to achieve two fundamental goals in our work. First, we seek to build resilience that enhances individual, community and institutional capacity to survive, adapt, and grow in the face of acute crises and chronic stresses. Second, we seek to promote growth with equity in which the poor and vulnerable have more access to opportunities that improve their lives. In order to achieve these goals, the Foundation constructs its work into time-bound initiatives that have defined objectives and strategies for impact. These initiatives address challenges that lie either within or at the intersections of five issue areas: basic survival safeguards, global health, environment and climate change, urbanization, and social and economic security. For more information, please visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org.