Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies co-directors Rebecca Richards-Kortum and Maria Oden will speak at the upcoming South by Southwest Conference in Austin March 8.
Richards-Kortum will join Kenyan colleague Millicent Alooh to discuss “Keeping Biomedical Tech Out of the Equipment Graveyard” at 11:30 a.m. at the Austin Marriott Downtown, 304 E. Cesar Chavez St. Hospitals in Africa have an overwhelming shortage of functioning equipment due to cost. Well-meaning equipment donations try to fill this gap, which often leads to “equipment graveyards.” Richards-Kortum will discuss what it takes to navigate medical devices away from equipment graveyards toward sustainability.
At noon, Rice partners from Kenya will present “Fixing a Broken Market to Distribute Equipment in Africa” at the Austin Marriott Downtown. Industry experts and advisors Danica Kumara and Vince Gate will discuss how improving health technology management systems and connecting manufacturers with local distributors are accelerating the uptake of health care devices and starting to fix a broken market.
Oden and Kenyan colleague Dick Oranja will host a meetup for “Emerging Tech Enthusiasts & Creators” from 4-5 p.m. at the JW Marriott, 110 E. Second St. Designed for those interested in AI and machine learning, quantum computing or the other new tech under development, this meetup is designed to allow enthusiasts to share ideas, showcase projects and potentially connect with a new business partner.
The annual South by Southwest Conference and Festivals celebrate the convergence of tech, film, music, education and culture. For more, visit https://www.sxsw.com.