Dimagi

Dimagi, Inc.
C Corporation, Benefit Corporation
Industry Software
Founded 2002
Key people
 Jonathan Jackson (CEO, Co-Founder)
Vikram Kumar (CMO, Co-Founder)
Neal Lesh (CSO)
Carter Powers (COO)
Cory Zue (CTO)
Products CommCare (www.commcarehq.org)
Number of employees
 100
Website http://www.dimagi.com

Dimagi, Inc. is a for- profit social enterprise based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that delivers open-source software technology suitable for low-resource settings and underserved communities.[1] The company designs clinical interfaces, health information systems, and mobile technologies to perform patient-level disease management, clinical decision support, and health system monitoring.[2] It also provides implementation services on open-source information and technology.[3] Dimagi became a certified B corporation in 2008 and an incorporated benefit corporation in 2012.[4] Dimagi has additional offices in New Delhi, India, Cape Town, South Africa, Maputo, Mozambique, and Dakar, Senegal.[5]

Software Products

CommCare

CommCare is an open source mobile platform designed for data collection, client management, decision support, and behavior change communication.[6] CommCare consists of two main technology components: CommCare Mobile and CommCareHQ. The mobile application is used by client-facing community health workers in visits as a data collection and educational tool and includes optional audio, image, and video prompts.[7] Users access the application-building platform through the website CommCareHQ which Dimagi operates on a cloud-based server.[8]

CommCare supports J2ME feature phones, Android phones, and Android tablets and can capture photos and GPS readings.[9] CommCare supports multi-languages and non-roman character scripts as well as the integration of multimedia (image, audio, and video).[10] CommCare mobile versions allow applications to run offline and collected data can be transmitted to CommCareHQ when wireless (GPRS) or Internet (WI-FI) connectivity becomes available.[11] CommCare also supports SMS, including, supports two-way messaging, broadcast messages, and reminders that are scheduled for each end user based on configurable data elements such as date of signup or language preference.

In 2012, the United States Agency for International Development Development Innovation Venture funded Dimagi to expand CommCare in India to 50 new programs in health and social sectors.[12] Since then, Dimagi has opened two Requests for Applications, with its latest targeting organizations operating in Francophone West Africa.[13] As of 2013, CommCare has been used in over 100 projects spanning 35 countries.[14]

CommCare and CommCareHQ are released under the Apache v2.0 and BSD Licenses, respectively. The CommCare application is built on OpenRosa standard tools and protocols, and leverages many different open-source technologies. Protocols are represented using XForms a W3C backed standard approach to more advanced forms that support nested and repeatable elements, decision support, advanced validation, and extensive user interface controls.

CommCareHQ

CommCareHQ is an online web portal for mobile application management, reporting, and building forms. Data submitted using CommCare's mobile applications is transmitted to CommCareHQ.[15] Users must create an account on CommCareHQ to customize a CommCare mobile application for new projects, and download the application onto their phones.[16] Registered users may log into the mobile application to submit data in real-time to CommCareHQ and to program managers through basic reporting features and data exports.

CommCare Exchange

CommCare Exchange is a mobile application store that allows individuals or organizations to access pre-built applications from existing mHealth projects. CommCare Exchange hosts mobile applications built by implemetating partners in the areas of maternal and child health projects, e-Learning, and agriculture.[17] Dimagi describes CommCare Exchange as "an open-source app store where participants can share their innovative ideas on, thereby making sure the best ideas can rapidly replicate across the CommCare community." [18]

CommCare Supply

CommCare Supply is an open-source tool designed to strengthen logistics management through the use of mobile technology.[19] CommCare Supply's purpose is to support health workers in resource-poor settings manage commodities and improve the performance of new and existing supply chains.[20]

In partnership with John Snow, Inc., CommCare Supply is currently being used in Tanzania (where it is known as "ILSGateway"), Ghana ("Early Warning System"), and Malawi ("cStock").[21] CommCare Supply is in use in over 2,300 facilities in Tanzania.[22] In Malawi, SMS reports are used directly to calculate 1,500 community health workers' just-in-time stock needs as part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded John Snow Research and Training Institute’s Improving Supply Chains for Community Case Management initiative.[23]

Partnerships

Since its founding, Dimagi has collaborated with more than 150 partners around the world.[24]

In 2007, D-Tree International partnered with Dimagi to evaluate whether the use of an electronic job aid on a mobile device improved adherence to the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness protocols in Tanzania.[25]

In 2011, Dimagi joined the Business Call to Action Initiative.[26]

In February 2012, Dimagi and the Grameen Foundation partnered with CARE through the Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) Platform Initiative in Bihar, India.[27] Later in 2012, Dimagi partnered with the CORE Group, a global health membership organization, to establish the CommCare Learning Collaborative to support non-governmental organizations address maternal and child health issues.[28]

In 2013, Novartis partnered with Dimagi in an effort to eliminate rheumatic heart disease in Zambia.[29]

Research

Dimagi has participated in research for information and communications technology platforms and healthcare delivery in under-served populations, both domestically and abroad. Dimagi has partnered with research firms, non-profit organizations, governments, and academic institutions to conduct research about our products and platforms, which has led to peer-reviewed publications.[30] Dimagi has published 15 peer-reviewed papers about its mobile health platform CommCare.[31]

Research has shown that, when used correctly, CommCare can improve community health programs across four areas: access to care, client engagement, quality of care, and accountability of care.[32]

Recognition & Awards

The company was certified as a B-Corporation in 2008 and incorporated its status in Massachusetts.[33]

Dimagi was named a 2008 Legatum FORTUNE Technology Prize Finalist.[34]

Dimagi was selected a top "Innovator in mHealth" by the mHealth Alliance and Rockefeller Foundation" in 2011.[35]

In 2011, the company was named one of Bloomberg BusinessWeek's America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs.[36]

In 2012, GBC Health presented the Business Action Health Award to Dimagi, Inc.[37]

In 2012, Dimagi Co-Founders Jonathan Jackson & Vikram Kumar were named to the Schwab Foundation’s 2012 Social Entrepreneur Awardees at the World Economic Forum meeting in Tianjin, China.[38]

References

  1. ↑ "The Healthcare Cure: Your Cellphone" http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/26/technology/mobile_health.fortune/
  2. ↑ "Dimagi Seeks To Better Health Care in Third World" http://www.indusbusinessjournal.com/ME2/Sites/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=1D48DB09A7E94AC3940790A6CBE7D09B&SiteID=Main
  3. ↑ Vikram Sheel Kumar: Software Design http://www.metropolismag.com/January-2006/Vikram-Sheel-Kumar-Software-Design/
  4. ↑ "Custom Software and Support for Domestic and International Healthcare" http://www.bcorporation.net/community/dimagi-inc
  5. ↑ "Mobile Phones for Global Health" http://research.cens.ucla.edu/events/?event_id=281
  6. ↑ "CommCare" : http://cloudportal.nethope.org/products/view/commcarehq
  7. ↑ "USAID DIV Portfolio by Sector" http://www.usaid.gov/div/portfolio/sector
  8. ↑ "mBillionth Mobile &Telecom Congress 2013" http://www.webcontxt.com/mbw/
  9. ↑ "IWG Grantee: Scaling CommCare for Maternal and Child Health in India" http://www.healthunbound.org/content/iwg-grantee-scaling-commcare-maternal-and-child-health-india
  10. ↑ "Dimagi: Boosting Healthcare through Mobile Technology" http://rise.mahindra.com/dimagi-boosting-healthcare-through-mobile-technology/
  11. ↑ "Optimizing Network Connectivity for Mobile Health Technologies in sub-Saharan Africa" http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0045643
  12. ↑ "Scaling Commcare": http://www.usaid.gov/div/commcare
  13. ↑ "RFA for CommCare in French West Africa": http://www.ghdonline.org/tech/discussion/rfa-for-commcare-in-french-west-africa/?ref=related_content
  14. ↑ "Can Empathy Scale Technology": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathanjackson/can-empathy-scale-technol_b_2900890.html
  15. ↑ "Using Power For Good: How RMF is Using Technology to Transform Humanitarian Aid by Michael Matheke-Fischer"
  16. ↑ "CommCare ODK v2": https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.commcare.dalvik&hl=en
  17. ↑ "Dimagi Launches CommCare Exchange" https://www.commcarehq.org/exchange/
  18. ↑ "Dimagi Launches CommCare Exchange" http://www.dimagi.com/dimagi-launches-commcare-exchange/
  19. ↑ "Invention and Technological Ideas Development Organization" http://www.dimagi.com/itido/
  20. ↑ http://www.dimagi.com/commtrack/
  21. ↑ "Innovative Mobile Phone Use Improves Access to Drugs and Medical Supplies in Africa" http://www.jsi.com/JSIInternet/Features/article/display.cfm?txtGeoArea=INTL&id=371&thisSection=Features&ctid=1030&cid=233&tid=20
  22. ↑ "CommTrack" http://www.dimagi.com/commtrack/
  23. ↑ "JSI Feature Page" http://www.jsi.com/JSIInternet/Features/article/display.cfm?thisSection=Features&thisSectionTitle=Features&thisPage=stories&ctid=na&cid=na&tid=20&id=414
  24. ↑ "Link to Dimagi's Member Profile" : http://www.businesscalltoaction.org/members/2011/09/dimagi/
  25. ↑ "Dimagi": http://www.joycott.org/fr/component/mtree/Internet/dimagi.html
  26. ↑ "Business Call to Action: Dimagi":http://www.businesscalltoaction.org/members/2011/09/dimagi/
  27. ↑ "Commcare| Center for Health Market Innovations" http://healthmarketinnovations.org/program/commcare?display=izpb.
  28. ↑ "Helping NGOs Use Mobile Phone Technology to Improve Maternal and Child Health": http://www.coregroup.org/component/content/article/261
  29. ↑ "Novartis collaboration aims to eliminate rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Zambia, Africa": http://www.novartis.com/newsroom/media-releases/en/2013/1681877.shtml
  30. ↑ "MOTECH Suite Partners" : http://motechsuite.org/index.php/partners
  31. ↑ "Publications" http://www.dimagi.com/about/publications/
  32. ↑ "Publications" http://www.dimagi.com/about/publications/
  33. ↑ "Link to B-Corp Company Profile" :http://www.bcorporation.net/community/dimagi-inc
  34. ↑ "Link to Legatum Fortune Award Announcement" : http://www.fortuneconferences.com/brainstormtech2008/legatumtechprize/techprize_finalists.html
  35. ↑ "Link to UN Press Release" http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/12/prweb9012988.htm
  36. ↑ "Business Week: America's Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs 2011" : http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2011/sb20110621_158462.htm/
  37. ↑ "GBC Health Commended Company 2012: Dimagi" http://www.gbchealth.org/asset/commended-company-2012-dimagi-inc./
  38. ↑ http://www.dimagi.com/2012-social-entrepreneur-award/

External links

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