As part of the digitization of clinical and lab processes for COVID-19 response in Guinea-Bissau, the High Commissioner for the Fight Against COVID-19, Innovalab and Saudigitus, joined forces in a partnership that aims at increasing the testing capacity, ensure security of documents, reduce waiting time, manual processes and reporting mistakes and improve active and passive epidemiological vigilance, improve monitoring of contact cases as well as the protection of health professionals.

UNDP, in line with one of its COVID-19 response main strategic pillar, namely digitization, joined the initiative that will be implemented around two main components:

1.      Development and implementation of apps and databases as part of digitization of the clinical and lab processes of COVID-19 response;

2.      Capacity building of health professionals on the 11 sanitary areas of the country in the use of the new digital tools.

The project, of over 100,000 USD will be co-funded by UNDP (the first component of over 50,000 USD) and the High Commissioner (the second component also over 50,000 USD) while Innovalab and Saudigitus will ensure the technical execution of the partnership, namely:

·       Evaluation of the information systems and elaboration of strategies to improve those systems;

·       Capacity building of health professionals in the use of these tools;

·       Hosting and management of the servers.

Saudigitus (Service of Digital Innovation) is an international institution that operates since 2014 in the area of development of health information systems (eHealth, mHealth), and works with the University of Oslo in the implementation of activities funded by international organizations such as the Ouest African Organization for Health and Global Fund that mainly provides assistance to African countries. 

InnovaLab is the pioneer NGO in innovation acceleration in Guinea-Bissau, founded by young professionals that promote the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and aims at creating social impact, supporting entrepreneurship in education, agriculture, health and infrastructures.