Global Health NOW: Lifesaving Tech Support
Jennifer Ryan Crozier, president of the IBM Foundation

“…Around the world, information technology can make a life-or-death difference for communities facing urgent public health challenges. By making it easier to collaborate and analyze data, communities have a powerful tool for improving health — especially when accompanied by sound public policy and collaboration among the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. The key is to apply technology wisely — taking into account the people who will use or benefit from the technology: policymakers, stakeholders, health care workers, and the communities themselves. … [T]echnology, applied in concert with other efforts — such as social service and public policy reforms, better collaboration among bureaucracies, and a greater emphasis on prevention and prediction — can help accelerate positive reform that will lead to better health and a better quality of life for all, not just the fortunate few” (1/25).