Annual Radiology Meeting in UAE
25 – 27 October, 2022

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), UAE

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25 – 27 October, 2022

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), UAE

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ARM Conference features three tracks put together by the Radiology Society of the Emirates and the Radiographers Society of the Emirates.

We bring together world renowned speakers who are committed to educating their fellow radiologists and radiographers on best practices as well as addressing core issues faced by medical professionals in the field of Radiology. The interactive sessions across the 3-day program will help find solutions to the problems and pitfalls in Radiology.

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WHY ATTEND?

ARM is considered as a unique and the premier radiology event in the Middle East, creating a regional platform to exchange ideas and practices in the Radiology Industry. Over the years, ARM has grown to be one of the most prominent radiology events on every stakeholder’s calendar.

  • ARM delivers a 3-day impactful program that covers topics such as Pediatric Imaging, Emergency Radiology, Mammography, Cardiac Imaging, Neuroradiology and much more
  • ARM will help you gain up to 20 CME hours required for maintaining your achieved certification
  • ARM is a perfect platform to network with market leaders and identify innovative solutions to enhance overall patient experience with time and cost-efficient methods.
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Dr. Ramy M. Mansour

ARM is a very useful meeting with a high-quality program and great speakers! I am very impressed with most of the attendees, they were well informed and experienced. It is important that we attend such kind of meetings to benefit from healthy medical discussions. Overall, it was a very good event, I really enjoyed it.

Dr. Ramy M. Mansour

Professor of Dermatology, Varese, Italy

Prof. Edward Y. Lee

Events such as The Annual Radiology Meeting in UAE is essential, as it supports knowledge and skill transfer among radiologists, clinicians in other specialties, and industry professionals, as well as provide an insight into the latest technologies that will help enhance patients’ experience and management.

Prof. Edward Y. Lee

Chief of the Division of Thoracic Imaging, Associate Professor of Radiology and President of the International Society of Pediatric Thoracic Imaging, Department of Radiology at the Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, USA

2021 Featured Speakers

Amna

Dr. Amna Kashgari Flag

Assistant Professor of Radiology | Saudi Arabia

Amna
Dr. Amna Kashgari
Flag
Assistant Professor of Radiology | Saudi Arabia

Assistant professor of Radiology.KSAU-HS Pediatric Radiology and Pediatric Neuroradiology consultant KAMC-NGHA, Riyadh. Brief Bio: I'm Board certified by the Saudi Board of Radiology. I graduate with honour degree. I continue my training at IWK health center, Dalhousie university, Halifax Canada in Paediatric radiology and Paediatric Neuroradiology. I have been in practice at KAMC, Riyadh since completing fellowship in July 2012. I have special interest in advance MRI neuroimaging in Paediatric and metabolic brain disorders. I have established my interest and goals to work for all paediatric patient’s safety including tailoring radiology examination for individual patient to decrease radiation. Recently, I was the Chairman of the academic community in the Medical imaging department at KAMC,Riyadh and the director for the residency training program from 2016-2019. I have several local and international presentation in pediatric radiology.

Edward

Prof. Edward Y. Lee Flag

Associate Professor of Radiology | USA

Edward
Prof. Edward Y. Lee
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Associate Professor of Radiology | USA

Dr. Edward Lee is an associate professor of radiology at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He received his A.B. and M.D. from the University of Chicago (Phi Beta Kappa and Swift Scholar) and his M.P.H. from Harvard University (Student Marshal), followed by an internship at Harvard Medical Center (BIDM / BWH / DFCI) and a radiology residency at Mallincrodt Institute of Radiology / Washington University Medical Center. After completing a pediatric radiology fellowship as a chief fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 2005, he joined the Departments of Radiology and Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Since Dr. Lee was appointed as the Chief of Thoracic Imaging Division in 2010 and Director of MRI from 2012 - 2014, he has provided integrated image performance and interpretation across modalities for congenital and acquired pediatric disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Lee has been an author on more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, 100 review articles or book chapters, and three books related to pediatric imaging including Pediatric Radiology: Practical Imaging Evaluation of Infants and Children. He was the recipient of GERRAF (GE Radiology Research Academic Fellowship) in 2006 and RSNA Eyler Editorial Fellowship in 2010. He is the winner of the prestigious Caffey’s Awards from SPR in both Best Clinical Scientific Research and Best Educational Exhibit Presentation categories. As a chair of the pediatric section of the American Board of Radiology (ABR), he has been instrumental in establishing pediatric radiology education and qualification in radiology residency training in the United States. Additionally, as an editor of the pediatric section of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR); editorial board member of nine journals; and reviewer of 25 journals; Dr. Lee has also helped guide and establish the educational and scientific direction and growth in his academic specialty – pediatric imaging – at academic and medical institutions around the world. He is the past President of the New England Roentgen Ray Society (NERRS) and current President of the International Society of Pediatric Thoracic Imaging (ISPTI) and Medical Staff Organization at Boston Children’s Hospital. Recently, Dr. Lee has been also elected as the President of the Medical Staff Organization (MSO) at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. Lee is currently one of the most sought-after internationally known radiology educators and experts in the field of pediatric imaging. He has served either as a visiting professor, an invited speaker, or radiology oral board examiner on various topics related to pediatric imaging education in more than 40 different countries in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Australia, Africa, and Asia.

Lectures by this speaker
Tuesday, 2021-10-12
Lecture 1: (Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Memorial Lecture) Pediatric Interstitial Lung Disease: Pattern recognition approach to diagnosis

  11:00 - 11:30

Tuesday, 2021-10-12
Lecture 3: Imaging evaluation of pediatric renal masses: Practical approach

  12:00 - 12:30

Tuesday, 2021-10-12
Lecture 2: Pediatric thoracic and abdomen: Interactive session

  14:00 - 14:30

Jay

Prof. Jay P. Heiken Flag

Professor | USA

Jay
Prof. Jay P. Heiken
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Professor | USA

Jay P. Heiken, MD, FACR, is Professor of Radiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Prior to that he was on the faculty of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine for 35 years. He served as Director of Abdominal Imaging at Washington University for 15 years and as Co-director of Body Computed Tomography for 24 years. Dr. Heiken is past President of the International Cancer Imaging Society (ICIS), the Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance (SCBT/MR) and the Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists (SGR), and has served as Chair of the Gastrointestinal Subcommittee of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Scientific Program Committee. He currently is a member of the American College of Radiology LI-RADS Steering Committee. He is a fellow of the American College of Radiology, and for 22 years served as an examiner for the American Board of Radiology. He has served on the editorial board of Radiology and currently is a member of the editorial board of Abdominal Imaging, the Korean Journal of Radiology and Applied Cancer Research. He has been awarded Honorary Fellowship in the Asian Society of Abdominal Radiology (ASAR) and Membership in the Radiological Society of South Africa (RSSA). Dr. Heiken has co-authored 138 peer-reviewed articles, 43 book chapters and invited publications, and has edited and co-authored 6 books. He has presented scientific papers at conferences across the United States, lectured as a visiting professor in more than 60 national and international universities, and has taught more than 240 courses and symposia. Dr. Heiken has received the Gold Medal of both the Society of Abdominal Radiology and the International Cancer Imaging Society. He has received the Resident’s Distinguished Teaching Award from the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and the Visiting Professor Award from the Society of Gastrointestinal Radiologists.

Lectures by this speaker
Monday, 2021-10-11
Lecture 1: (Rashid Hospital Radiology Department Lecture) CT/MR LI-RADS

  11:00 - 11:30

Monday, 2021-10-11
Lecture 3: Cystic Pancreatic Neoplasms: Diagnosis and Management

  12:00 - 12:30

Monday, 2021-10-11
Lecture 2: Adult Abdomen Interactive Session: Pot Pourri

  14:00 - 14:30

Pia

Prof. Pia C. Maly Sundgren Flag

Head of the Department of Radiology, Clinical Sciences, Lund University | Sweden

Pia
Prof. Pia C. Maly Sundgren
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Head of the Department of Radiology, Clinical Sciences, Lund University | Sweden

Professor Pia Maly Sundgren is the head of the Department of Radiology, Clinical Sciences/Lund, Lund University in Sweden, Co-Director for Lund University BioImaging Center, and senior consultant in neuroradiology at Skåne University hospital, LU, Lund. Her research focuses on advanced MR imaging and conducts imaging research focused on monitoring treatment response and effects of radiation in brain tumors, advanced imaging in autoimmune diseases with special focus on SLE as well as in pain conditions. Her research is conducted both at 3T and 7T. For advanced brain MRI she is an opinion leader and internationally recognized. She is a frequent invited faculty and her topics a broad inkl. Lectures on spine, infections, brain tumors and advanced imaging tecniques among others. She is, and vice-President of ESNR and chair of the ESNR neuropediatric committee, past president of the ISMRM, General Secretary of WFNRS among others. She is active member of several research councils of various organizations in Sweden and Europe and of many international scientific and executive program committees and faculties. Prof. Sundgren have published over 180 papers and reviews, over 215 scientific abstracts, three books and several book chapters and have given over 340 international invited lectures and workshops worldwide. She was elected Senior Fellow of ISMRM in May 2021, received the Nelson Mandela Gold Medal by the RSSA in 2018, and she has been award the MICHR Michigan Clinical and Translational Research Distinguished Mentor Award 2014, the ISMRM Outstanding Teachers Award 2016, and the Lund University Minerva Award for Academic Leadership 2018. She gave the 2021 Manfield Lecture at ISMRM.

Lectures by this speaker
Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 2: Brain lesions in children and adults

  14:00 - 14:30

Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 1: (Hassan Shuri Memorial Lecture) Assessment of CNS tumor response or treatment effects

  15:30 - 16:00

Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 3: Spine and Spinal Cord Trauma in children and adults

  16:30 - 17:00

Prasad

Dr. Prasad Hanagandi Flag

Consultant Pediatric Neuroradiologist | Saudi Arabia

Prasad
Dr. Prasad Hanagandi
Flag
Consultant Pediatric Neuroradiologist | Saudi Arabia

Dr. Prasad Hanagandi is a Consultant Neuroradiologist at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia. He has completed pediatric neuroradiology clinical fellowship training at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. In addition he has diagnostic adult neuroradiology fellowship training from McGill University, Montreal and The University of Ottawa, Canada. Dr.Prasad has European Diploma certifications in Pediatric and Adult Neuroradiology. He has also worked as a visiting guest researcher at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden and pursues a keen interest in malformations, toxic-metabolic disorders, brain tumors, and infectious diseases. Along with his friends he is an active organizer and one of the founding members of Seminars in Pediatric Neuroimaging (SPIN, https://www.spin-academics.com/) , a global pediatric neuroradiology teaching platform delivering most updated clinico-radiological educational courses.

Lectures by this speaker
Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 2: Interesting pediatric neuroradiology cases

  11:30 - 12:00

Stacy

Prof. Stacy E. Smith Flag

Chief and Distinguished Weissman Chair | USA

Stacy
Prof. Stacy E. Smith
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Chief and Distinguished Weissman Chair | USA

Dr. Stacy E. Smith is the Chief and Distinguished Barbara N. Weissman Chair, Division of Musculoskeletal Imaging and Intervention, Department of Radiology, and Imaging Director of the STRATUS Center for Simulation in Medical Education at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA. Dr. Smith has over 100 publications related to Musculoskeletal imaging and Medical Education. She is a former ARRS AJR Figley Fellow and Associate Editor, American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR), & is the current MSK Editor for Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology and Cancer Imaging. Dr Smith is the current Director for the RSNA MSK Case Based Review Course and lectures nationally and internationally.

Lectures by this speaker
Monday, 2021-10-11
Lecture 2: Case Based Review Foot and Ankle interactive Session

  11:30 - 12:00

Monday, 2021-10-11
Lecture 1: Advanced Imaging of the Foot – Don’t miss Cases

  13:30 - 14:00

Monday, 2021-10-11
Lecture 3: (College of Medicine and Health UAE University Lecture) Traumatic Facial Injuries

  14:30 - 15:00

Christina

Dr. Christina Malamateniou Flag

Director of Postgraduate and Doctorate Programme of Radiography | United Kingdom

Christina
Dr. Christina Malamateniou
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Director of Postgraduate and Doctorate Programme of Radiography | United Kingdom

Dr Christina Malamateniou (PhD SFHEA MA MAcadMEd DIC Bsc Hons) is the director of the postgraduate programme and doctorate programme of Radiography at City, University of London. She has worked in many different Universities in Europe over the last two decades and has published extensively. She has held many leadership positions within the Greek Society of Radiographers, the EFRS, the Society and College of Radiographers and the European Society of Radiology. In 2016 she was the chair of the radiographers scientific programme subcommittee at the European Congress of Radiology. Christina has published more than 40 papers in peer reviewed journals in different fields of medical imaging and clinical education, has attracted research funding of more than £2.5 million and Co-I and PI and has authored/coauthored more than 100 conference research abstracts. She has been the recipient of the Greek state scholarships foundation from Greece, the British Institute of Radiology Clinical MRI prize and Leonard Levine memorial prize and the Biomedical Research Centre fellowship for her work in neonatal and fetal mri research, respectively. Her current research interests are MRI, AI implementation in radiography , research mentoring and patient centred care in medical imaging.

Lectures by this speaker
Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 1: AI in radiography

  11:00 - 11:30

Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 1: Autism Friendly MRI scanning

  13:30 - 14:00

Daniele

Dr. Daniele Aurelio Giuffrida Flag

Expert, Radiation Protection | United Arab Emirates

Daniele
Dr. Daniele Aurelio Giuffrida
Flag
Expert, Radiation Protection | United Arab Emirates

Daniele Giuffrida is the Radiation Protection Expert at the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR), and a Member of Committee 4 of the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP). A Polytechnical Institute of Milano Nuclear Engineering graduate, he obtained the three levels of specialization as a Qualified Expert in Radiation Protection in Italy. He started his career in the French nuclear industry, then joined the European Commission as a civil servant in 2012 and was appointed Head of the Radiation Protection Sector and Qualified Expert of the JRC-Ispra Site, where he served for 12 years. Since joining FANR in 2014, he was involved in several projects and activities related to the development of the Radiation Protection infrastructure in the UAE, including education and training, UAE-IAEA cooperation, dosimetry and Occupational Radiation Protection.

Lectures by this speaker
Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 2: Qualification Of Radiation Protection Professionals in the UAE

  14:00 - 14:30

Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 3: Current Challenges in Radiation Protection (And Opportunities for UAE Innovation)

  12:00 - 12:30

Philippe

Mr. Philippe Gerson Flag

ISRRT Treasurer | France

Philippe
Mr. Philippe Gerson
Flag
ISRRT Treasurer | France

Philippe gerson qualified as a radiographer in 1981 at the hospital Hotel Dieu ,.he became Chief Radiographer in 1990. he was the coordinator of all the paramedical staff ( radiographers , nurses ...)of his hospital until 2019 . Then from 2019 to 2021 he was chief of 3 radiology department in 2 hospitals ( one pediatric and adult at Necker hospital and one of the Hotel Dieu Hospital ) and now retired since February 2021 but still involved for his profession. he has been very involved in Africa and Asia organizing several workshops and conferences . He has been appointed by the French Red Cross as an expert to set up Radiology Departments in Health Day Care Centres for AIDS in Africa Since the last ISRRT world congress ( Trinitad ) he has been nominated as ISRRT treasurer . Philippe gerson is vice president of the French Society of Radiographers (AFPPE)

Lectures by this speaker
Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 2: Radiographer Profession in France.

  09:30 - 10:00

Wael

Dr. Wael Shabana Flag

Associate Professor of Radiology | Canada

Wael
Dr. Wael Shabana
Flag
Associate Professor of Radiology | Canada

My journey started in Egypt after I finished medical school, then moved to Europe, in particular Brussels, where I was able to join the medical school at the Free University of Brussels (The Flemish part) to obtain a license in the EU. I finished Radiology training combined with Ph.D. from the same university. In 2006, I did a fellowship in abdominal imaging at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor (top-ranked 10 medical hospitals in the world) and joined as a junior staff for few months before joining the department of radiology at the Ottawa University in 2007 as an assistant professor. In 2016, I obtained an Executive MBA from the University of Ottawa. I'm section head of abdominal imaging at the University of Ottawa.

Lectures by this speaker
Sunday, 2021-10-10
Lecture 1: Multimodality Case Studies - Black And White Swans

  09:00 - 09:30

Monday, 2021-10-11
Lecture 2: PI-RADS Version 2.1

  09:30 - 10:00

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Shortage of ‘Human Resources for Health’ in Developing Countries

Supported by Noor Dubai

Subtitle:

The shortage of health workers in developing countries may undermine the attainment of the Sustainable development goals, universal health coverage and undermine control of epidemics/pandemics. So how do we improve the number and quality of health workers in developing countries?

Context:

The World Health Organization in its 2006 World Health Report reported that over 4 million more health workers are needed globally to prevent crisis in the health sector. Out of which Africa alone needs 1.5 million workers. Thus 36 of the 57 countries in the continent have critical shortages of human resources for health.

Globally all countries are challenged by worker shortage, skill mix imbalance, maldistribution, negative work environment, and weak knowledge base. However, it is worse in the poorest countries mostly of Africa and Asia where the workforce is under assault by HIV/AIDS, epidemics, out-migration, poor working environment, demotivation, undertraining and inadequate investment.

The critical shortage of health workers in developing world especially Africa is a major impediment to achievement of health/developmental goals, and could hinder the ability to control epidemics and pandemic outbreaks. In many developing countries this shortage not only affects provision of life saving interventions like childhood immunization, maternal services and prevention/treatment of the major infectious diseases –HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis; but also hampers response to serious epidemics and pandemics like Ebola, Hemorrhagic fevers, Yellow fever and Covid-19. In addition to this the increasing aging population and change of life style in these developing countries results in rising burden of chronic diseases and non-communicable diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, cancers etc needing more well trained health personnel’s and facilities.

This shortage is made worse within these countries by a vicious cycle of outbreaks of epidemics that further deplete the workforce and emigration of health workers to other parts of the world. The gross mal-distribution of the workers where by majority of health workers are in the urban areas but most of the population lives in rural areas in these countries, aggravates the situation. Furthermore the opportunities for continuous medical education and self-development is generally limited.

Thus, this human resource for health crisis in the developing countries especially Africa is not only about the quantity of the health workers and their distribution but also their quality. Due to weak educational systems and training facilities, occasioned by poor investment, health workers in many of these countries are not only inadequately trained but also lack the continuous medical education to handle emerging life threatening emergencies and chronic health conditions.

The crisis is partly caused by underfunding from governments due to competing developmental demands with very weak economies. This results in fewer ill-equipped training institutions, undertraining, under-recruitment, lack of facilities, demotivation, brain drain etc. The pull of higher salaries in industrialized countries and the push of poor working conditions at home along with political and social strife drive thousands of health workers to jobs abroad each year. This ever increasing brain drain from these poor weak countries to richer nations of the West and Middle East compound an already bad situation.

Challenge statement:

The SDG goal 3 (Ensuring health living and promoting wellbeing for all for all ages), the universal health coverage and ability to withstand epidemics and pandemics like Covid-19 cannot be achieved in many countries if the human resources for health crisis in these countries is not tackled.

So how can we address this gross shortage of health workers in developing countries especially Africa in terms of not only the number of the health workers, but their distribution and their expertise (knowledge and skills?). What innovative and technological approach can be applied to address this big challenge?

The digital literacy divide between e-learners: how to narrow the gaps?

Supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

Title: The digital literacy divide between e-learners: how to narrow the gaps?

Concept: In a world that everyone is using the digital sphere to communicate and learn, there is still a gap between the e-learners as some have high digital literacy while many still have more limited literacy.

MSF’s e-Learning team (TEMO) aims at reaching 95% of the organization’s staff and not only 25% with high digital literacy, access to computers, access to internet, etc.

Challenge: In this scenario and in order for all staff to have access to distance learning and eLearning Solutions like Tembo can offer, what are proposals and ideas to promote digital literacy for the e-learners to narrow the gaps?

Overcoming Challenges to the Inclusion of Beneficiaries with Disabilities in Emergencies

Supported by International Humanitarian City

Keywords: Emergency Preparedness & Response; Disabilities

Introduction:
IHC for the 2020 Humanitarian Hackathon decided to focus the attention on a group of vulnerable populations affected by Disabilities. The purpose of this challenge is to stimulate people to think outside the box and come up with possible innovative tools that the humanitarian community can offer to people exposed to emergencies and having different kinds of disabilities. In particular, mobility and communication/ability to attract attention are two crucial factors when it comes to the immediate aftermath of a disaster as well as the short and long-term living situation the affected disabled population may find themselves in. The purpose is to integrate and enrich the humanitarian prepositioned stocks with appropriated equipment and aid and therefore strengthen the emergency preparedness and have tools ready for their use in the response phase. The aim is to involve the Humanitarian Hackathon 2020 participants and transform their ideas in humanitarian aid for the benefit of the disabled. Looking at the list of the humanitarian relief items stocked within various humanitarian hubs it appears that no specific items are kept in stock specifically to support the differently-abled living in areas affected by disasters.

Scenarios:
The most frequent emergency scenarios are due to natural disasters such as floods, Tsunamis, Earthquake, cyclones, volcano eruptions, fire-forest etc…in addition to conflict areas. Hackathon participants are invited to think about the disabled population in those scenarios, and particularly, how the disabled can attract rescue teams or humanitarian workers providing assistance. Options for innovative solutions may focus on preventive measures, especially for the populations most exposed to risks and living in prone and hazard areas and subject to frequent natural disasters. Other innovative solutions may focus more on the immediate response following disasters when the affected population is forced to vacate their accommodation, which is appropriately equipped for their disability and moved into newer and less familiar areas. How can we help them?

Below are some tips for the various potential disabilities.

Suggestions:

  • Overall, items that could be useful to most disability categories could be:
  • A Tools to attract attention (which can be distributed to all vulnerable people affected)
  • A disability-friendly app
  • Stool bags compatible with a foldable wheelchair toilet seat
  • Clear masks for lip-reading for the rescue teams
Improving Small Farmers Access to Knowledge About Crop Production Techniques through E-Agriculture

Supported by International Humanitarian City

In several humanitarian response areas, are blessed with diverse climatic conditions for almost all crops (cereal, fruit and vegetable crops), besides ample opportunity to grow high value vegetables as off season in certain zones and pristine climatic niches as well production of certain fruits and vegetables seedling in low, high and walk in tunnels.

Moreover, there is also immense scope of growing short duration vegetable in three successive seasons i.e. summer, winter and autumn such as tomato, broccoli and potato. The small farmers in general are neither aware of the opportunities of effective utilization of their physical , financial and human resources nor know the ways and means to utilize their available resources. Thus they follow the hit and trial rules to grow crops which often incur heavy losses to them.

DISTANCE LEARNING CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN A POST COVID-19 WORLD

Supported by Dubai Cares

COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing gaps in Developing Countries, which were already strained, underserved and faced significant tech capacity limitations, causing serious learning disruptions.

Context

The world has been brought to a standstill by the impact of COVID-19. Airports, restaurants, movie theaters and other elements of the social environment have been disrupted by this virus’ contagion. While watching movies and dining in public are not essential to our lives, work and education are.

Education systems and learning have been heavily disrupted by COVID-19. At its apex, school closures reached over 180 countries. Currently, according to the UNESCO Education Impact Tracker, there are still 34 country wide school closures and over half a billion affected child learners. “The medium and long-term implications of the learning crisis [has] forced 1.6 billion learners worldwide out of the classroom” (UNESCO). This is especially true for education in developing countries, which were already facing poor economic conditions while also coping with low literacy, numeracy, enrollment and proficiency.

In July, UNESCO estimated “that about 24 million learners, from pre-primary to university level, are at risk of not returning to school in 2020 following the education disruption due to COVID-19. Almost half of them are found in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. University students are affected the most, due to the costs related to their studies. Pre-primary education is the second most affected while at primary and secondary level 10.9 million students are at risk, 5.2 million of whom are girls.”

As closures forced students and parents home, the need for connectivity and hardware arose. “Today half of the world’s population (3.6 billion people) still lack an internet connection.” Many countries with low economic development and lack of connectivity, adapted via national broadcasts over TV and Radio, “yet the benefits of internet-based solutions vis-à-vis radio and TV solutions are considerable: connected digital technologies allow for the possibility of two-way communication, real-time interaction, gamified learning, and much more. Investments poured into efforts to make digital tools the principal hubs of learning, rather than brick-and-mortar school sand classrooms” (UNESCO).

“According to UN estimates, nearly 500 million students from pre-primary to upper secondary school did not have any access to any remote learning. Three quarters of these students lived in the poorest households or rural areas. More nuanced data showed finer disparities that traced and functioned to accentuate existing social, economic, gender and geographic fault lines. Analysis from Brookings shows that at the height of school closures, around 90 percent of high-income countries were providing some form of online remote learning, but only 25 per cent of low-income countries were doing the same” (UNESCO).

 

One of the flagship innovations responding to this at a global level is GIGA, an initiative launched by UNICEF and ITU in September 2019 to connect every school to the Internet and every young person to information, opportunity and choice. GIGA is supporting the immediate response to COVID-19, as well as looking at how connectivity can create stronger infrastructures of hope and opportunity in the “time after COVID.” The main objective of GIGA is to connect 2 million schools and 500 million children by 2025 and 5 million schools and 1 billion children by 2030, via funding of local infrastructure entrepreneurs and open source digital public goods.

Lastly, the long term effects of diminished education is worth considering, as “the World Bank has projected the financial cost of this learning loss to be as high as USD $10 trillion or 10% of global gross domestic product” (UNESCO). The human and economic impact of stunted education will ripple through the next decade as less educated students, workers and citizens will enter a world that is simultaneously regressing (climate change) and rapidly evolving (technology). Those that are already economically disadvantaged are at greater risk of getting left behind even more.

Challenge Statement:

As discussed above, distance learning is not always feasible due to low prevalence of connectivity and hardware in developing nations and economies, where the population is less able to purchase cell phones and laptops, while the public and private sectors are less likely to build connectivity infrastructure such as cell towers and Wi-Fi access points.

  • How can distance learning solutions be delivered to low income / remote / rural areas with low hardware saturation and lack of internet access so as not to exclude them from education services and systems they were already underserved by?
  • Think of innovative*, feasible and scalable solutions for learning disruption in developing countries

Things to keep in mind for solution design and review criteria:

  • Developing contexts often have limited access to transportation, clean water and sanitation
  • *Innovation does not necessarily mean very high tech and revolutionary. Sometimes the most innovative thing is using or reformulating something basic and abundant in a new and low cost way
  • Reflect on the sustainability of the design, as many solutions end up collecting dust after initial investment and intervention
  • Think through the replicability and scalability of the solution for global reach in similar environments
  • Contemplate potential cross-sectorial collaboration (telecom, government, and academia)
  • Consider the operational part of it: how is it going to work, under what umbrella, with what organizational or collaborative structure
  • Deliberate on the Who and How of funding your solution
Water Scarcity and Accessibility to Clean Water

Supported by UAE Water Aid

The UAE Water Aid Foundation, Suqia, under the umbrella of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, works diligently to provide clean and safe drinking water to communities in dire need and that lack basic access to water. Thus, Suqia contributes directly to Goal 6, Clean Water & Sanitation, of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It also has important contributions to goals 1 (no poverty), 3 (good health and well-being), 4 (quality education), 5 (gender equality) and 17 (partnerships for the goals).

Access to clean and safe water remains one of the most critical challenges faced by many around the world. While governments and societies work together to provide solutions to communities in need, the number of those who lack access to basic drinking water services continues to increase till date. According to recent statistics, the figure has reached a staggering 785 million in 2019. In many communities, people spend up to 6 hours each day collecting water. Not only does walking long distances while carrying 20 liters of water cause severe health issues, but it also keeps children out of school and wastes time that families could be using to earn an income.

Utilizing various solutions including artesian wells, water purification stations, water filters, water distribution networks and others, we were able to provide clean drinking water for more than 13 million people in 36 countries around the world.

The main challenge is in providing communities that need it the most. Often these communities are in remote locations difficult to get to and may be overseen in search of the places that require access to clean drinking water.

Although, the water infrastructure is not available, tele-communication networks are often available.

How can we utilize the tele-communication networks or mobile applications to support our goal of reaching out to communities in need? We are looking for a solution that would be easy to use where individuals can pin-point locations globally that face water shortage and lack easy access to clean drinking water. The solution would ideally identify the type of need in the area, the water quality, the approximate number of people living in the area, etc ..