Our Free "About Ebola" App is Featured on Sky News's "Digital Views" Program
On Saturday, 4 October, Sky News's Martin Stanford presented "Digital Views" and interviewed Code Innovation's Elie Calhoun about the place of our "About Ebola" app in the outbreak response alongside more traditional communications via radio, print media and television. You can watch the segment here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P0bvQjufrp4
You can read more about the UNICEF mHero program that Elie mentions in the video here.
In a supplementary video, Elie Calhoun shares more context on why we created the app for Android and Apple smart phones, even though smart phone owners are the minority in West Africa, where the outbreak has its epicenter. She explains that smart phone owners are often important influencers with social capital in their communities, and that people who would otherwise mistrust government and foreign health care workers may trust them, providing us with an important avenue for behavior change communication.
You can watch her more detailed explanation about the "About Ebola" app here:
http://youtu.be/ikKuqV3d3eU
We are releasing Elie's in-depth video under a free culture Creative Commons Attributions 4.0 International license, so please feel free to use the above video in your own outreach and communication efforts.
The "About Ebola" app, which is now in Liberian English, Sierra Leonian Krio, Jola, Wolof and Swahili, in addition to French and English, can be downloaded for free here:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cc.snapp.aboutebola
Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/about-ebola/id891004317?mt=8
And once again, thanks to our international volunteers, without whom this project would not have been possible:
The app was created using the Snapp mobile application building platform, where you can create a free app on your mobile phone. Learn more here.
And once again, thanks to our international volunteers, without whom this project would not have been possible:
Illustration of the virus: Fouad Mezher
Translations:
French: Beatrice Clerc Liberian English and Krio: Dr. Bartum Kulah Swahili: eMobilis Mobile Technology Academy Wolof and Jola: Fatima Jobe and Lamin Goudiaby