ABSTRACT
Every day, Africa’s burgeoning community of data scientists, machine learning specialists, and researchers is exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can contribute to tackling local challenges south of the Sahara. Failure to invest in responsible AI development, which strives to be inclusive, rights-based, and sustainable, may lead to a future where AI exacerbates inequality, fragility, and the effects of climate change in Africa. This project, through a small-grants call and mentorship program, will catalyze an ecosystem of development-oriented entrepreneurs and innovators who are deploying AI in Africa. It is part of the four-year Artificial Intelligence for Development in Africa (AI4D Africa) program, a joint endeavour between the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and IDRC, and is also supported by IDRC’s AI for Global Health (AI4GH) initiative.
LOCATION
East, West, and Southern Africa
SUBPROJECTS
| Project 1 — Rology | ||
| Country: Egypt | Focus Area: Medical Imaging | IDRC Alignment: Democratizing Access to Care |
| Project Summary: “Rology Connect” offers a zero-setup cost, an end-to-end, high-quality, and integrated teleradiology solution to the diagnostic imaging facilities in the MEA region, especially in the underserved healthcare communities and distant geographical areas. | ||
| Project 2 — Neural Labs Africa Ltd | ||
| Country: Kenya | Focus Area: Medical Imaging | IDRC Alignment: Democratizing Access to Care |
| Project Summary: Using Deep Learning and Computer Vision technology to enhance medical images for radiologists and hospitals in real time to identify diseases such as Pneumonia, TB, and lung cancer. By this, the solution empower doctors to aid accurate diagnoses. | ||
| Project 3 — Vectorgram Health | ||
| Country: Kenya | Focus Area: Medical Imaging | IDRC Alignment: Democratizing Access to Care |
| Project Summary: Accurate (93%), fast African focused AI powered diagnostic tool that assist radiologist in accurate diagnosis, reducing the turn around time and is tested using African data to reduce biasness on the African population. | ||
| Project 4 — Intixel | ||
| Country: Egypt | Focus Area: Medical Imaging | IDRC Alignment: Gender Focus |
| Project Summary: A web-based CAD software system for breast cancer detection in screening mammography. The solution seamlessly integrates with the PACS system in hospitals, supply initial diagnosis markups and draft reports to the image data from the imaging modality. | ||
| Project 5 — Saratani AI | ||
| Country: Tanzania | Focus Area: Diagnostics | IDRC Alignment: Gender Focus |
| Project Summary: A more flexible and user-friendly cancer diagnostic device made using Deep-learning techniques, trained with quite a large cervical PAP smear cytological image with plans of making it offline. The model can be replicated to diagnose other forms of cancer. | ||
| Project 6 — Vectorgram Health | ||
| Country: Kenya | Focus Area: Diagnosis | IDRC Alignment: Gender Focus |
| Project Summary: Early diagnosis of breast Cancer using an AI model, Deep Neural Networks trained on augmented Mammography datasets to execute scalable Computer Vision inference accessible anywhere in the world on an online platform | ||
| Project 7 — The Pathology Network | ||
| Country: Kenya | Focus Area: Pathology | IDRC Alignment: Gender Focus |
| Project Summary: Connecting doctors, hospitals and the patients they serve to a global network of pathologists. Leveraging on technology to enable doctors to order patient’s tests, tests samples are picked, processing arranged, and the samples distributed to a network of pathologists for reporting. | ||
| Project 8 — Palindrome Data | ||
| Country: South frica | Focus Area: Predictive/Analytics | IDRC Alignment: Sexual and Reproductive Health |
| Project Summary: Predictive/analytic AI models that facilities triage of HIV patients who need more support and those who need less intensive support. The algorithms do this by identifying characteristics of patients that are likely to cause adverse health outcomes. | ||
| Project 9 — Sophie Bot | ||
| Country: Kenya | Focus Area: Chatbot | IDRC Alignment: Sexual and Reproductive Health |
| Project Summary: Sophie Bot is an artificial intelligence persona to answer users’ questions on sexual health. Think of her as “Siri for sexual health”. We take great care to feed her with curated verified information from our partner/investor UNFPA Kenya. | ||
| Project 10 — Wekebere | ||
| Country: Uganda | Focus Area: Maternal and Child Health | IDRC Alignment: Maternal and Child Health |
| Project Summary: Using machine learning, the innovation allows for improved healthcare delivery by enhancing early detection of fetal well-being, thus increasing mother and infant safety, preventing maternal and neonatal morbidities, and lowering healthcare costs. | ||