VODAFONE FOUNDATION 'BIG DATA FOR GOOD' PROGRAMME
February 26 2018 - 5:33AM
ADVFN NewsWire
VODAFONE
FOUNDATION TO USE AGGREGATED ANONYMISED MOBILE DATA TO HELP PREVENT
SPREAD OF EPIDEMICS IN TRANSFORMATIVE 'BIG DATA FOR GOOD'
PROGRAMME
The Vodafone Foundation has today announced a
pioneering programme in Ghana to use aggregated anonymised data to
help the government track and control epidemics to prevent
widespread outbreaks.
The programme, one of the first of its kind in
the world, will use aggregated anonymised mobile data to track
real-time trends in population movement. The data is then analysed
to provide life-saving insights during a widespread epidemic - such
as the 2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the
most widespread outbreak of
the Ebola virus in
history. The Vodafone Foundation programme is a
striking example of how big data can be used to gather valuable
insights, which the government of Ghana can apply to a number of
health and other sustainable development challenges, ultimately
saving and improving lives.
Government departments will be able to allocate
resources more efficiently and identify the areas at increased risk
of new outbreaks. The level of activity at each mobile phone mast
can provide a 'heat map' of where people are and how far they are
moving during an outbreak, while aggregated anonymised
data can be used for decision-making in a number
of areas - including health, agriculture, and
transportation.
The programme, a first in Africa, will be
funded by the Vodafone Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the
United States. They will fund the work of a team of data scientists
from not-for-profit organisation Flowminder. Working closely with
Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and Vodafone Ghana, Flowminder will
collect, aggregate, integrate and analyse anonymous mobile data,
working in line with Vodafone's global privacy principles, GSMA
data protection guidelines and Ghanaian data protection
regulations. The project, which will launch later this year, will
ultimately help save lives by providing detailed, up-to-date
insights to the government of Ghana. Mobile
data will be used alongside epidemiological data to help manage any
future health challenges.
Vodafone Group External Affairs Director Joakim
Reiter, said: "Mobile technology can enable access to
large-scale aggregated anonymised data about human behaviour and
the ability to examine the mobility of an entire population. As we
can now measure human mobility, it is possible to model how
infections spread. This has the potential to save thousands of
lives."
For further
information:
Vodafone Group
Media Relations
www.vodafone.com/media/contact
About Vodafone Foundation
The Vodafone Foundation's Connecting for Good
programme combines Vodafone's charitable giving and technology to
make a difference in the world. Globally, the Vodafone Foundation
supports projects that are focused on delivering public benefit
through the use of mobile technology across the areas of health,
education and disaster relief. The Vodafone Foundation invests in
the communities in which Vodafone operates and is at the centre of
a network of global and local social investment programmes. The
Vodafone Foundation is a UK registered charity, registered charity
number 10989625.
About Flowminder and the WorldPop
Program
Flowminder Foundation is a Swedish non-profit
organisation with offices in the UK and Switzerland. Flowminder's
mission is to improve public health and welfare in low- and
middle-income countries. Flowminder is a core partner of the
WorldPop research program, providing high-resolution data of global
population distributions and characteristics, freely available
online.
Flowminder and the WorldPop Program works with
governments, inter-governmental organizations and NGOs. It
collects, aggregates, integrates and analyzes anonymous mobile
operator data, satellite and household survey data. Flowminder
works with large datasets, composed of billions of data points. Its
analyses enable the mapping of the distributions and
characteristics of vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income
countries. Flowminder helps save lives by providing analyses and
decision support to all relevant parties, based on
the latest academic advances.
About the William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a
nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and
supports institutions to promote a better world.
For 50 years, the Hewlett Foundation has
supported efforts to advance education for all, preserve the
environment, improve lives and livelihoods in developing countries,
promote the health and economic well-being of women, support
vibrant performing arts, strengthen Bay Area communities and make
the philanthropy sector more effective. The foundation was
established in 1966 by engineer and entrepreneur
William R. Hewlett and his wife,
Flora Lamson Hewlett,
with their eldest son, Walter Hewlett. Today, it is one of the
largest philanthropic institutions in the United States, awarding
roughly $400 million in grants in 2016 to organizations across the
globe to help people build better lives.
This programme is supported by the Hewlett
Foundation's Evidence Informed Policymaking strategy. The goal of
this strategy is that governments systematically use evidence to
improve social and economic policies over time.
About Ghana Statistical Service
(GSS)
GSS leads the efficient production and
management of quality official statistics based on international
standards, using competent staff for evidence-based
decision-making, in support of national development.
In 1985, the Statistical Service Law (PNDC Law
135) established the Statistical Service, which instrument had the
effect of raising the status of the Central Bureau of Statistics
from a Government Department under a Ministry to that of an
autonomous, independent public service.
The GSS coordinates the National Statistical
System in Ghana and is currently leading a drive to innovate around
data for evidence based decision making and monitoring the national
and international development frameworks such as the
SDGs.
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