Mbarara University hosts 2016 CAMTech

PIC: A mentor from Ethiopia talking to participants during a brainstorming session. Photos by Ronald Kato

The 2016 CAMTech Global Surgery Hack-a-thon came to a close last night at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

The event, held every year, brought together brilliant minds from Africa, Europe, Asia and America to think, design and produce affordable medical innovations to solve pressing health challenges.

A Hack-a-thon is an event typically lasting 48 hours where developers and programmers and a variety of stakeholders (including the end users) collaboratively develop applications or platform on either mobile devices or the web addressing a specific challenge.

Hack-a-thons are increasingly being organized to address specific development challenges.

The participants were drawn various disciplines including health, engineering, business and end-user perspectives.

Opening the event on Saturday, the minister for ICT and information Frank Tumwebaze said innovation is at the centre of Uganda's Vision 20140. He said government is working to make internet access cheaper and affordable.

The 2016 global surgery Hack-a-thon award was won by Team CIF who came up with the Contraceptive Implant Finder, low cost scanner technology to simply hormonal implant retrieval.

The event was closed by technology, science and innovations minister Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye who said government is working to Ugandan innovators patent their works. Only two innovations have been patented in Uganda since 2007 according to the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology.