A key takeaway from the pandemic is that when a community works together, it can achieve amazing things. The scientific community came together (and continues to collaborate) to develop vaccines in 11 months, a process that in the past has taken 4 to 20 years.
In the same way, organizations, local communities, and governments can magnify the efficacy and impact of their digital transformation process by pooling resources, knowledge, and areas of focus. Collaboration allows stakeholders to share resources and experiences to benefit each initiative and also strengthen the global community.
The IDB fosters collaboration in four specific areas of DT: alignment with regional and global movements and partners; using and contributing to existing knowledge platforms and repositories; supporting and contributing to networks and communities of practice in the region to further joint learning; and collaborating with the private sector.
In the first area, the IDB has ramped up its collaboration with the PAHO to bolster its contributions to countries and raise the standards required in LAC. This collaboration includes harmonizing support and learning programs to avoid redundant efforts and inconsistent messaging, developing strategic plans and roadmaps for countries, and analyzing investment synergies. Likewise, the IDB helped develop the two regional PAHO policies for advancing digital health, including the Roadmap for the Digital Transformation of the Health Sector in the Region of the Americas. Finally, in its projects, the IDB applies standards for interoperability, cybersecurity, and privacy promoted by the WHO, PAHO, the International Telecommunication Union, and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.”
- Henry Ford -
In 2018, IDB endorsed the Digital Development Principles: 9 guidelines for the successful implementation of digital development proyects.
The IDB’s second area of collaboration centers on using and contributing to existing repositories and platforms for exchanging knowledge, and on compiling resources like open-source code; articles; and frameworks for donors, clinicians, and technology specialists developed by different organizations. Examples of these repositories include the IDB’s Social Digital y el Code for development repositories.
In the third area, IDB supports communities of practice, centers of excellence, and networks on digital health formed to create learning spaces in the region and beyond. The Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires,is one such center of excellence, and the Asia eHealth Information Network is an example of a groundbreaking network. Another important experience in the region is the Re Digital Health Cooperation Network of the Americas (RACSEL). Its founding members include the ministries of health of Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Uruguay. RACSEL was created in 2014 with IDB’s support to advance cross-border digital health. IDB also promotes Regional Public Goods for digital health. For example, it worked with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to support safe tourism, and with the National Center on Health Information Systems (CENS) and RACSEL to create LACPASSfor ensuring COVID-19 certificates meet international standards.
RACSEL: Governments working together to improve digital health
Finally, the IDB Group actively collaborates with the private sector to further a shared vision and course of action for investing in and implementing innovations in digital health, the sector’s productivity, and ICT capacity building for workers.
Henry Ford’s conviction that “if everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself” still resonates today. Ford did not invent the automobile or even the assembly line, but he is responsible for transforming the automobile industry by aligning resources, harmonizing strategies, and channeling the contributions of all involved. We still feel the impact today. To successfully transform LAC’s health systems, the private sector, government, and civil society (especially citizens and professional associations) all have to work together, and international development partners must do their part too, among other factors explored in this document. Strength lies in unity
The IDB and IDB LAB joined forces with Capital Salud and 1DOC3 on a health assistance program designed to reduce access barriers for vulnerable people in the Colombian cities of Armenia and Bogotá. The collaboration yielded a scalable and adaptable solution for environments where the demand for medical services greatly exceeds available physical resources (facilities) and professional resources (doctors).
Alexandre Bagolle, Specialist in Social Protection and Health.
Division of Social Protection and Health
How to promote the regional digital health ecosystem in LAC
In a connected region, citizens can freely move between countries, always with easy access to their health data in a secure and confidential way.
References:
1Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), Sistemas de información para la salud. Proceso de aplicación en la subregión del Caribe: enseñanzas obtenidas y examen posterior a la acción, 2016-2019, (Washington DC: PAHO, 2021), 54.