jamaica

If, as a country, we are serious about improving the health of our population, there has to be a focus on technology-driven health literacy and access.

Technology can significantly enhance and promote health literacy, leading to improved behaviour necessary for better health outcomes.

With the growing use of the Internet by Jamaicans, wider cell phone usage and availability of affordable data plans, we have a real opportunity here.

A Jamaican technology platform, developed by Advanced Integrated Systems, (AIS), is currently being marketed in India and expectation is that its use in that country may bring millions in revenue to Jamaica. 

Mobile money has been hailed as a possible solution to the problem of financial inclusion and can be a solution to many challenges, such as money laundering and praedial larceny.

But mobile money also fits in very well with health technology as it can enable the use of, and broaden access to, several health-care services that would not otherwise be available to many persons.

The first thing we have to make clear is that mobile money is not a generic term.

NATIONAL Commercial Bank (NCB) Jamaica limited, which has been chosen to undertake the pilot project to provide electronic mobile payments of benefits under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) with the bank’s mobile money platform, NCB Quisk, will roll out its pilot programme next month.

“The use of NCB Quisk will remove the overhead that the Government would have had to pay to prepare and disburse cheques,” a news release from Quisk quotes NCB’s product development officer, mobile payments, Stephen Scale.

Douglas Halsall, Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Integrated Systems, AIS, is encouraged by the significant traction gained in the market by mobile money solution, Quisk.

Halsall was presenting on business opportunities that individuals can embark on with the use of digital cash and mobile payments at the Jamaica Computer Society IT Knowledge Forum held at the Jamaica Conference Centre last week.

Very soon, seriously ill Jamaicans will be able to stay in bed and use their smartphones to get home delivery of their medication from the pharmacy.

It will even get better when the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) gets connected to the electronic hub, and individuals who leave the hospital, but still need medical attention, can stay at home and get the same attention without having to move a leg.

Tech company Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS) is hoping to tap government and private sector clientele for its new electronic hospital management system, which it wants to roll out nationally.

The National Patient Information System (NPIS) will first be tested at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

AIS has made its pitch to the Government and is now awaiting feedback on whether the plan will be considered for the island's 25 hospitals and 300 clinics, said Chairman and CEO Doug Halsall.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jamaica’s Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS) Ltd, Douglas Halsall, says that a new partnership with India’s Graylogic Technologies Ltd could benefit Jamaica’s crime fighting efforts.

“In terms of crime, I believe that their technology can really address that,” Halsall informed the press after announcing the partnership with Graylogic, a Hyderabad-based firm which has been creating innovative, high-quality custom software solutions since 1999.

Victoria Mutual Building Society (VMBS) says it is now conducting a mobile money pilot with technology provider Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS) and its American partner Quisk.

JMMB and Lasco Financial Services Limited (LFSL) are also in talks with AIS and Quisk to use their cloud platform to launch their offerings; while conglomerate GraceKennedy Limited is in the second month of its own pilot.

President and CEO of VMBS Courtney Campbell said the building society is to submit its request to the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) for approval for its mobile product.

Information technology company Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS) says its mobile money platform should go live in the next three months.

National Commercial Bank Jamaica is expected to be the first to roll out products and services through the platform, says Doug Halsall, chairman and CEO of AIS, but adds that they have three other financial service providers lined up as clients.