Information and Communication Technologies for Development

In preparation of the initial write-up, this week our team started looking at how ideas work together on a more technical level. After exchanging emails with our contact in Pakistan and meeting with our supervisor, we found out/ came up with the following:

- The viability of incorporating a passive RFID chip in a traditional bracelet has been tested by our contact in Pakistan. They have successfuly made a working prototype and have evaluated the social impact. Dialogues with parents and grandparents reflected that this idea should be applicable.

This eliminates a lot of our initial concerns regarding tempering with religious accessories. The next step will be looking into the details of the bracelet such as formally drafting designs and considering manufacturing aspects.

- Our contact has expressed that an active battery operated RFID chip will be preferred but there are constraints such as size, cost, and the fact that active RFID is not approved by the FDA for use in medical records due to security reasons. This will be one of the main issues that we hope to resolve asap.

- A tentative development plan for the project was created by our contacts. They suggested that after six months to a year, the families of the participants should have understood the project, seen the benefits of it and simply got used to it. Hence, they will have more incentive to make sure the participating infant is kept involved. Hopefully this will mean that the families will keep the ID card safe and remember to bring it during visits to their healthcare provider.

This answers our initial questions with regards to the problem of lack of incentive, albeit that there is still a possibilty of the card being lost/ forgotten.

- To reduce the work load of the system, our group thought that, if it is possible to write data (participant ID no. and study no.) onto the RFID chip, a single query to the system (vs a round trip in our initial idea) is possible, ie scanner reads RFID, realises from the numbers that this chip is part of our study and immediately notices system.

We also defined more specific roles for each of our team members. With a manufacuring engineering background and knowledge in business economics, I will be considering the financial aspects of the project. I hope to get some information such as the budget and costs for various type of equipment and do some estimates.

Our plans before spring break:
-Go to the Nokia lab
-Get some RFID tags if possible
-Prepare social impact survey(?) and Khan's visit(?)