Introduction
Programmes
Presentations
Corporate Services
Chairman’s Report In 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic rampaged through society, leaving very little untouched. Organisations had to rapidly adjust their operations to adapt to lockdown conditions. Besides the impact of the pandemic, 2020 was an important transition year for Jembi with many large projects reaching the end of their natural funding cycle. Considering these conditions, Jembi was fortunate to secure new long-term awards in Mozambique and South Africa and effectively consolidate and restructure its operations around these new programmes. I am pleased to be able to reflect on Jembi’s activities over the past year. Jembi, under the leadership of its visionary and dynamic CEO, Chris Seebregts, has effectively weathered a volatile and challenging period and has emerged with strong structures and programmes. Jembi’s activities over the past year has certainly advanced the Jembi vision of “A world in which health systems and information advance global health”. The pandemic also brought to the fore the importance of and role of digital health solutions. Jembi continues to play a pioneering role in developing innovative health software applications and enabling interoperability between siloed health information systems. This includes its work on electronic medical record systems, health information exchanges and mobile applications. Jembi is also exploring emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, and how these technologies can be used to further enable and unlock the potential of digital health applications and systems in Africa. Jembi’s innovative approach to digital health strongly
equips it to participate in this new reality with its strong and established base in Programmes, Technology and Corporate Services. I would like to thank the members of the Jembi Board for their support and contribution during this period: Dr. Dayne Morkel (Deputy Board Chair), Dr Chris Seebregts (CEO), Dr. Quentin Williams, Mr. Andy Gray and Prof. Steve Reid, as well as Jembi’s division and programme directors, Dr Alessandro Campione, Mr Wayne Naidoo and Ms Jonnea Smith. I would like to welcome Dr. Ziyanda Vundle as the new member of the Jembi board. Dr. Vundle brings a wealth of experience in public health. We will continue to recruit new Board members to inject new energy and to increase the diversity and representivity of the Jembi Board. I also want to acknowledge and thank the many funders and donors who have contributed to Jembi’s success and without whom this important work could not be undertaken. We have received substantial contributions from the South African Government, United States Government agencies, Italian Government, international donor agencies, private philanthropies, foundations, and corporate sources, to whom we remain indebted. Jembi has managed to diversify its sources of income during this year, and at the same time received increased funding from US Government sources. We look forward to the next phase of Jembi’s journey with existing and new funders and partners. I am happy to present to you Jembi’s 2020/2021 Annual Report.
With kind regards,
Dr Deshen Moodley Jembi Board Chairman Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Cape Town Deputy Director, South African National Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research
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JEMBI HEALTH SYSTEMS
