Technology to Facilitate Remote Communication for Smooth Implementation of Technical Guidance

Possible approaches might include, but not limited to:
AR/VR technologies with wearable devices which allow users to share their fields of view and work progress hands-free; service contents designed to support remote communication
Robots, etc., which facilitate users' seeing the on-site situation remotely

 

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BACKGROUND

　JICA provides cooperation to 148 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America, etc. Every year, JICA has dispatched around 10 thousand experts, 8,500 survey members, 1,000 volunteers and has received around 15 thousand trainees from developing countries to Japan.
However, due to COVID-19, the experts and volunteers have been forced to evacuate and dispatching of survey teams and hosting of trainees in Japan have been suspended, causing disruptions to the smooth implementation of the projects.
This has led to demand for solutions that allow provision of effective technical guidance even with international travel restrictions still in place. Specifically, with video calls that rely on regular webcams, it is hard for participants to share fields of views as they actually perform their work, which makes it difficult to achieve training results equivalent to those achieved by on-site training, and solutions based on a different approach are needed.
JICA has therefore decided to make a global call for proposals on innovative solutions which can enable effective technical guidance remotely from Japan in a smooth manner, as a replacement of conventional cooperation, which has been provided directly on site in developing countries or in Japan.

 

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WHY PARTICIPATE?

• JICA will provide Proof of Concept (PoC) opportunity in JICA’s field in Africa, and the PoC fund of up to 5 million yen will be provided
• If the technology is established following the PoC, the solution may potentially be applied across Africa or developing countries in other regions where JICA provides cooperation
• Potential PR support by JICA

 

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POINTS TO CONSIDER

• As JICA’s fields include places with weak internet connectivity, JICA welcomes solutions that can be applied in such environment or proposals with combination of solutions which can secure connectivity
• As JICA provides cooperation in 148 countries, it is desirable that the proposed solutions are easy to use
• JICA expects the proposers to customize/develop a solution flexibly according to its needs, rather than merely providing devices

 

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PoC

• PoC period：3 months between January to June 2021
• As it is currently planned, PoC for the proposed solution will be conducted in multiple settings, including, between the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Ghana and universities / research institutions in Tokyo, and between researchers on rice cultivation of the Zambian Ministry of Agriculture and experts in Japan. Please see details in “PoC Scenarios”
• The device is planned to be sent to the field in Africa and the PoC will be conducted remotely

 

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PoC SCENARIOS

【Ghana: Infectious Disease Control】
The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Ghana (hereinafter referred to as "NMIMR") was established in 1979 with the cooperation of Japan, and now plays an important role as a central base for infectious disease control not only in Ghana but also in West Africa. JICA has dispatched Japanese experts for many years to provide various technical cooperation in infectious disease control and research areas, and also invited researchers from NMIMR to Japan to implement training programs and has contributed to improving its capabilities.
Currently, JICA implements “the Project for Surveillance and Laboratory Support for Emerging Pathogens of Public Health Importance” at NMIMR with the collaboration of the Institute of Medical Science of the University of Tokyo, National Institute of Infectious Diseases in Japan and Ghana Health Service which is in charge of managing hospitals and diseases in Ghana. In order to strengthen infectious disease surveillance capabilities in Ghana, the project is jointly conducting genetic analysis of pathogens found in disease surveillance and analysis of their relevance to pathology, between Japan and Ghana.
However, due to COVID-19, dispatch of Japanese experts to Ghana and training of NMIMR researchers in Japan have been suspended. With video calls that rely on regular webcams, it is hard to convey the situation in the laboratory or specific laboratory techniques, which makes it difficult to achieve training results equivalent to on-site technical guidance. Therefore, an effective solution for implementation of trainings remotely in the area of infectious disease control is being required.

• Sites of application and number of users:
  ・Sites: Up to 3 sites; 2 in Japan and 1 in Ghana
  ・No. of users: Up to approx. 8; 3 in Japan and 5 in Ghana
• Users: Researchers on both Japanese and Ghanaian sides; They are not engineers and therefore not skilled at technical operation.
• Internet speed in Ghana:
  Approx. 54.4 Mbps upstream / 1.7 Mbps downstream (as of the time of measurement). Although a fiber optic network has been built, it is shared across the users within the institute, which may slow down speeds. It is planned that they will have mobile routers as a backup.
• Usage: To provide technical guidance on medical research from Japan. For instance, the following trainings are being considered
  ・Training on genetic analysis of drug-resistant HIV
  ・Training on analysis of the intestinal flora
• Site of use: Indoor laboratory within the institute
• Language of communication: English; Translation and other language support for the successful proposer during the verification testing may be considered.
• The verification testing is expected to take place for a period of 3 months.

【Zambia: Infectious Disease Control】
　The School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zambia (hereinafter referred to as “UNZA”) was established with the support of Japan in 1985. Since then, Japanese experts have been dispatched and trainees have been accepted for many years to strengthen veterinary education in Zambia and measures against zoonotic diseases. UNZA now functions as a base laboratory for infectious disease control in the region, and plays a central role in diagnosing the new coronavirus, shown by UNZA testing the majority of samples in Zambia.
　Currently, JICA implements “the Project for Epidemiology of Zoonotic Virus Infections in Africa” at UNZA in collaboration with Hokkaido University Research Center for Zoonosis Control, to elucidate the natural host of the virus and its transmission route as well as to build capacity of infectious disease control personnel in Zambia. In particular, genetic analysis of viruses is the key to taking effective measures against infectious diseases. By comparing and analyzing the gene sequences of viruses detected in patients, we can grasp the origin and transmission route of viruses, trends of epidemic viruses, etc., and obtain epidemiological findings essential for planning effective epidemic prevention measures. Therefore, the project has newly introduced advanced research equipment necessary for next-generation sequence analysis and was planning to implement training for next-generation sequence analysis at UNZA. However, COVID-19 forced the evacuation of experts and the cancellation of business trips.
UNZA has many excellent researchers who have completed a doctoral course at Hokkaido University, but none have conducted next-generation sequence analysis. Therefore, the training is an urgent issue for the countermeasures against COVID-19 in Zambia, and there is a strong demand for new solutions that are effective for remote technical guidance.

• Sites of application and number of users:
  ・Sites: Up to 2 sites; 1 in Japan and 1 in Zambia
  ・No. of users: Up to approx. 8; 3 in Japan and 5 in Zambia
  
• Users: Researchers on both Japanese and Zambian sides; They are not engineers and therefore not skilled at technical operation.
• Internet speed at UNZA: Out of 3 measurements, the maximum value is 16.29 Mbps for downlink and 5.4M bps uplink, and the average value is 8.62 Mbps for downlink and 1.73 Mbps for uplink. It is planned that they will have mobile routers as a backup.
• Usage: To provide technical guidance from Japan. For instance, the following trainings are being considered:
  ・Training on next-generation sequence analysis of COVID-19
  ・Training on maintenance of laboratory
• Site of use: Indoor laboratory within UNZA
• Language of communication: English; Translation and other language support for the successful proposer during the verification testing may be considered.
• The verification testing is expected to take place for a period of 3 months.

Technical guidance in a laboratory

【Zambia; Agriculture】
　　In Zambia, about 67% of the labor force is engaged in agriculture, and the agricultural sector accounts for 9.8% of GDP. For many years, Zambia has implemented an agricultural policy that emphasizes maize, which is the staple food, but from the perspective of food security, Zambia is putting more emphasis on rice cultivation with the aim of breaking away from the planting system that is extremely dependent on maize. However, due to the immaturity of rice cultivation technique and post-harvest processing technique, productivity is low; domestic demand cannot be met by domestic supply, and the shortfall is imported from neighboring countries and Southeast Asia.
　Currently JICA implements “Market-Oriented Rice Development Project”, which aims to promote research and development and dissemination of technology on rice farming, and raise farmers’ incomes through improving market access by rice farmers. Activities are still underway, but the influence of COVID-19 has forced Japanese experts to evacuate to Japan. One of the challenges of local activities in the absence of Japanese experts is technical guidance to Zambian rice researchers in the research field. Normally, at the rice research laboratory in Zambia, Japanese experts will tour the field with local researchers and provide guidance on rice growth, pest diagnosis, training methods, etc. Currently, the project is responding by exchanging photos via email, but due to time lags caused by exchanges and gaps in information to be shared, the efficiency and quality of work is significantly reduced. Therefore, there is a need for solutions that contribute to the promotion of smooth remote activities.

• Sites of application and number of users:
  ・Sites: Up to 2 sites; 1 in Japan and 1 in Zambia
  ・No. of users: Case 1: 1 in Japan and 3 in Zambia, Case 2: 1 in Japan and 15 in Zambia
• Users: Researchers on both Japanese and Zambian sides; They are not engineers and therefore not skilled at technical operation.
• Internet speed in Zambia:
  4.5G LTE. Tethering from 4G smart phone is planned.
• Usage: To provide technical guidance from Japan. For instance, the following trainings are being considered:
  ・Case 1) Technical guidance during field tour of rice research field by Zambian researchers
  ・Case 2) Technical training towards local rice researchers in Zambia
• Site of use: Case 1) Outdoor, Case 2) Agriculture research institute of Ministry of Agriculture (Indoor), Rice research laboratory (indoor)
• Language of communication: English; Translation and other language support for the successful proposer during the verification testing may be considered.
• The verification testing is expected to take place for a period of 3 months.

Technical guidance in a rice research field

 

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SCHEDULE

 

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ENTRY

Click on the "Apply" button, go to the entry form and fill in the required information.

The evaluation criteria for proposals will be as follows. Please note that we will not disclose any evaluation results.

• Potential of the proposal as a solution to the given challenges
• Feasibility of the proposed solution
• Competitive advantage of the proposed solution
• Validity of the PoC plan
• Any relevant experiences of proposer

 

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CONTACT

If you have any questions, please send them to the email address below. The secretariat will reply to your inquiry.

The secretariat for Africa Open Innovation Challenge powered by JICA
E-mail: jpopeninnovation-jica@tohmatsu.co.jp

 

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NOTE

Contract for PoC
This verification testing will be conducted based on the business consignment contract, and the proposer will be required to submit the report specified in the contract as a product of the business consignment contract.
The management of this process is carried out in the Africa Open Innovation Challenge powered by JICA Management Secretariat (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretariat"). The secretariat is operated by a joint venture of Deloitte Tohmatsu Venture Support Co., Ltd., which is entrusted by JICA. Thus the proposer will make a business consignment contract for the implementation of the verification testing not with JICA but with the secretariat (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu).

• The secretariat and JICA will not disclose any evaluation details or results related to the selection.
• The ownership of the materials and equipment procured by the proposer with the budget allocated by JICA shall belong to JICA, and in principle, JICA will transfer the materials and equipment to the government agencies of the project implementing country after the completion of the verification testing.
• The intellectual property rights of the prototypes produced by the proposer and other organizations related to the verification testing shall belong to the proposer even after the termination of the business consignment contract. However the proposer grants the license to JICA and the government agency of the project implementing country. (separately confirmed in writing by the proposer and JICA).
• The intellectual property rights of the report prepared by the proposer, which is the product of the business consignment contract, shall be transferred to JICA.
• In principle, JICA will disclose the submitted report to the public. If the report contains confidential contents for the proposer, the contents will be kept private. The contents of non-disclosure will be decided after discussion among the proposer, JICA, and the secretariat.
• The verification testing may suspended or canceled due to local conditions or the spread of COVID-19 infection.