PATH is hosting two side events at the 2022 World Health Summit for deeper discussion around key topics related to digital health, a central theme at this year’s Summit. At these events, we’ll discuss opportunities to accelerate digital health transformation and amplify learnings and practices identified by two key initiatives: Data Use Acceleration and Learning (DUAL) and Digital Square.
If you are attending the World Health Summit and would like to join either of these events in person, please RSVP here.
Learning from the early adopters: An updated model for digital health transformation
Monday, October 17, 2022, 5:00–7:30 p.m. CEST* | Grand Hyatt Berlin, Renzo Piano Room
Hosted by DUAL
*Program will begin at 5:30 p.m.
PANELISTS
Taonga Chilalika, Advocacy and Policy Officer, PATH | South Africa (Session chair/Moderator)
As PATH’s Advocacy and Policy Officer, Taonga works on the design and delivery of advocacy strategies to advance policy goals in the areas of regulatory strengthening and health research and development in South Africa and the Africa region. This includes policy landscaping, policy maker engagement, stakeholder analysis and project management. Taonga has experience in building and maintaining strategic partnerships with national and international stakeholders, including national regulatory authorities, national governments, regional economic communities, regional agencies, and coalition management. Over the past two years, Taonga has provided project management support to the Data Use Acceleration and Learning (DUAL) project, coordinating data collection across five countries digitally transforming their health system. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) and a post graduate diploma in Public and Development Management from the WITS School of Governance.
Joseline Carías, General Manager, Central American Health Informatics Network (RECAINSA) | Guatemala (Panelist)
Joseline Carias Galeano is a Honduran-Guatemalan digital transformation project specialist and consultant, especially in the healthcare sector. She is a global digital health promoter and networking activist. She is currently the General Manager at RECAINSA NGO, an organization created in 2013, and formed by digital health professionals and volunteers in Latin America, with the intention of supporting national and regional digital health strategies and generating spaces for the exchange of experiences and best practices in both the public and private sectors. Joseline was a key player in the development of the Health Data Governance Principles in the Latin American region as part of the expert group of the Data Policy Circle at Transform Health, of which she has been recently appointed as CoChair, and promoter of its adoption and implementation at a global level from her leadership role in RECAINSA and the Transform Health coalition. She is an expert member of the Digital Health working group of the ITU Broadband Commission and UNESCO, an expert member of the Global Digital Health Index Technical Committee, an expert member of the Campaign Policy Circle, the Governance and Strategy Circle in the Transform Health coalition, and co-chair of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group in the Digital Health and Interoperability Group. She was recently named by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as one of the Latin American Women champions in digital health in the initiative created with the same name.
Maganizo Monawe, Senior Technical Advisor, Malawi Ministry of Health | Malawi (Panelist)
With a background in Computer Sciences and Demography, Maganizo Monawe has 15 years of work experience in implementing computing technologies for development. Over the years he has assumed various roles as Systems Analyst and Programmer for AllianceOne, Information Specialist for the University of Malawi Polytechnic, Health Systems Operations Manager for Baobab Health Trust, and Informatics Technical Advisor for the Ministry of Health in Malawi. Mr. Monawe currently serves as the Senior Health Information Systems Technical Advisor for the Ministry of Health and Team Leader for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Kuunika “Data for Action” Program, under implementation by the Ministry of Health. Starting in the private sector as a Systems Analyst and Programmer, Mr. Monawe has transitioned over the years from an expert Information and Communication Technology practitioner into an architect of technology-driven strategies and solutions that influence government policies in improving the quality of life for the common person. He has driven the improvement of Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) by leading efforts to strengthen data governance frameworks which include health information policies, strategies and standards; strengthening of data and information systems which include design and implementation of HMIS data management tools; implementation of electronic health systems such as the District Health Information System (DHIS); strengthening capacity for HIS human resources and facilitating utilization of health data; driving national dialogue on Monitoring and Evaluation through coordination of the national health sector M&E Technical Working Group and its sub TWGs. Currently, he is focused on identifying strategies to make adequate health data available to the decision makers and strategies for ensuring that decision makers include evidence. Mr. Monawe holds an MSc (Informatics) and MBA.
Derrick Muneene, Unit Head, Digital Health Capacity Building and Collaboration, WHO (Panelist)
[Photo and bio forthcoming.]
Dr. Omary Ubuguyu, Director of Curative Services, Ministry of Health, Tanzania (Panelist)
Dr. Omary Ubuguyu serves as the Director of Curative Services under the Ministry of Health in Tanzania. He is a psychiatrist by profession who spent over two years as Program Manager for the National NCD Prevention and Control Program and almost 10 years in clinical work, teaching and health administration. He has also been serving as the Head of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the Ministry of Health. He spent most of his career as Clinician, Researcher and Mental health consultant at Muhimbili National Hospital and as honorary Lecturer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, the biggest and oldest Hospital and medical University in the country. Dr. Ubuguyu is a medical doctor, graduated at Dar Es Salaam University in 2006 and completed Masters of Medicine (Mmed) course at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied sciences in 2013.
Digital Public Goods for Health: Meeting demand for digital health with an ecosystem of choice
Tuesday, October 18, 2022, 09:00-10:30am CEST | Hotel Berlin, Manila Lounge
Hosted by Digital Square at PATH
PANELISTS
Lav Agarwal, Additional Secretary, India Ministry of Health & Family Welfare | India
Mr. Lav Agarwal is an officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He is a Mechanical Engineer from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi after which he joined IAS and is allotted to the state cadre of Andhra Pradesh. He is presently on deputation to Government of India and is posted as Additional Secretary to Government, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and has given responsibility of handling national and International operations which includes Digital Health & Telemedicine, National Centre for Disease Control, Co-WIN, Climate Change & Health, Health Emergencies, Anti-Microbial Resistance and Rabies Control Program, Zoonotic diseases and Disease Surveillance for the country besides being in charge for overall International Health and Cooperation on behalf of the Ministry of Health. Being Nodal officer for Health Emergencies of India, Mr. Agarwal is responsible for providing supervisory guidance and has coordinated a proactive, pre-emptive, and graded response to COVID-19 outbreak, as per evolving scenario. Previously, he worked in various capacities over the last two decades in his cadre state of Andhra Pradesh. He served in various departments which includes Health, Election Commission, Power Distribution, Education, Youth Services and Sports, Housing and Disaster Management.
Wambui Kinya, Regional Managing Director EMEA, Elephant Ventures | Kenya
Wambui Kinya is the Regional Managing Director, EMEA for Elephant Ventures, a data-driven digital transformation company which has honed 20 years experience delivering dependable innovation and distributed team management patterns, to help unblock hard problems, validate and align priorities, and build solutions that create new business value. Wambui was formerly Chief Strategy Officer at Andela, and led strategies that successfully trained 80,000 software developers across 50 African countries. Prior to that, Wambui was Group Managing Director, Pan Africa for global technology consulting firm ThoughtWorks, where she led their Social Impact programs that saw the delivery of an EMR system MVP for the Ministry of Health in Uganda. Currently based in Nairobi, Wambui has over twenty years experience and worked in North America, Europe and Africa for companies such as Praekelt Consulting, IBM Global Business Services and Digitas (Publicis Groupe). She is currently a non-exective Director on the boards of Mozilla Foundation and Medic.
Michal Filip Kowalik, PhD, Director, Twilio.org International | UK
Michal Filip Kowalik is the Director of Twilio.org International, the dedicated social impact team at Twilio working to provide the world's #1 cloud communication platform to the nonprofit, education, and philanthropy sectors. Michal believes that technology can change the World when applied in a smart and impactful way. Michal is a versatile professional with nearly 20 years of experience designing and leading sales and market development strategies in the IT sector based on sound economic principles and comprehensive business analysis. He has expertise developing statistical models to understand future markets and process big data. Michal lives in London together with his wife and a baby daughter.
Max Schumann, Project Lead, Digital Innovation in Pandemic Control, GIZ | Germany
Max is working as a senior advisor to GIZ - German Agency for International Cooperation on digital health and digital public goods related topics on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. In this capacity, Max is managing a global project in the space of digital pandemic response and immunization, working with a number of countries from West and East Africa, as well as Latin America to strengthen their digital health system and architecture. In addition, Max is representing the German Development Cooperation in multiple donor convening and resource mobilization endeavors that promote the concept and implementation of digital public goods and infrastructure. He is a board member of the Digital Public Goods Alliance and deeply involved in the work of DICE – Digital Health Center of Excellence. Before joining GIZ, Max worked in the strategy consulting sector for an international consulting corporation, primarily focusing on digital transformation processes.
Dr. Olivia Vélez, Chief Digital Health Officer, IntraHealth International | USA
Olivia Vélez, PhD MS MPH RN, is a health informaticist with over a decade of experience in global digital health. Dr. Vélez recently joined IntraHealth International as Chief Digital Health Officer. As a member of the executive team, Dr. Vélez leads IntraHealth’s digital health team and data science initiatives, including iHRIS—IntraHealth’s free, open-source human resources information system now being used in 25 countries—and mHero, a two-way, mobile phone-based communication system that connects ministries of health and health workers. Dr. Vélez is an author of over a dozen peer-reviewed papers on health informatics and has presented her work at both national and international venues including MedInfo, the Global Digital Health Forum, the UN Economic & Social Council Partnership Clinic on Mobiles for Midwives, and numerous informatics conferences. In addition to her role at IntraHealth, Dr. Velez is the co-chair of the Global Digital Health Network, a Professor of Nursing at the University of Maryland, and a 2022 WomenLift Global Health Leadership Fellow. She believes digital health tools are critical to strengthening health systems, reducing global health disparities, and supporting frontline health workers.
Dr. Misaki Wayengera, Acting Chair, Uganda Ministry of Health Scientific Advisory Committee for EVD
Dr. Misaki Wayengera is a medical doctor with graduate training (MSc, Fellowship, PhD) in a diverse array of basic science fields (Immunology, Vaccinology, Clinical Microbiology, Genetics and Filovirology). His research interests center on pathogen OMICS with a focus on identifying new molecular targets for research and development of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. In 2019, Dr. Wayengera’s team won 1st Prize for the WHO innovation Challenge (Product Development), and he was nominated as REACH /RLM finalist. Dr. Wayengera is a (2019-2020) TWAS-SAREP Young Scientist award winner (Infectious Diseases). He is acting chair of the Uganda Ministry of Health Scientific Advisory Committee for EVD.
Skye Gilbert Yoden, Executive Director, Digital Square, PATH | USA
Skye (Gilbert) Yoden joined PATH in 2016 and assumed Digital Square’s Executive Director position in 2019. Digital Square finances over 30 digital health products that currently serve >3B people in 70 countries and partners closely with governments and funders on building sustainable digital health markets in low-resource settings. In her role, Skye oversees the vision, strategy and relationships that help Digital Square connect health leaders with the resources necessary for digital transformation. Prior to joining PATH, Skye worked on health and information systems from a variety of different lenses, first as an academic researcher living in Senegal and China, then as a consultant to the private sector at the Boston Consulting Group, and finally as a Program and Strategy Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Skye has a Global Executive M.B.A. from INSEAD and bachelor’s degrees in Economics, International Studies, and Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Related resources
Total Cost of Ownership tool: beta version (available in right-hand column)
Total Cost of Ownership tool: Overview presentation (from 2022 AeHIN General Meeting)
To learn more, follow Digital Square on Twitter and/or LinkedIn, sign up for our mailing list, or reach out to Alena Owen at aowen@path.org