Global technology equalisation

As a PhD student in UK, observing their high quality of life, I realised that indigenous technology is the factor behind. This defined my goal in life. Foregoing lucrative job offers abroad I came back home and ventured into areas of appropriate technology, focusing on health. As a teacher in Dhaka University I supervised more than a hundred post graduate theses emphasising application and dissemination of outputs, resisting ongoing trends to do research for publication only. Hosts of ex-students joined in my entrepreneurship ventures, apparently sacrificing careers, and I led them to initiate three sister institutions - Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology in the University, Relevant Science & Technology Society, and Bi-BEAT limited; the last for commercial manufacture of indigenous technology based products. This formed an eco-system that proved successful for technology proliferation into people's lives, absent in Bangladesh. This also holds solutions for all LMICs of the world.

Almost two thirds of the global population living in low and middle income countries (LMIC) leads a poor quality of life, while a minority enjoys an advanced life using modern technology. Actually, quality of life depends on the use of technology, which has to originate from indigenous people having requisite knowledge and skill as they know the local people, their environment and requirements better. LMICs lack this culture and environment. My project, ‘Global Network for Technology Equalisation’, will try to inspire and train science and technology graduates in the LMICs in designing essential products and processes, initially for healthcare, and to disseminate the outcomes commercially to their own people through entrepreneurship. The trainees will also be motivated to initiate branches of this network in their countries, thus creating a chain of activity which will change the quality of life of the whole of humanity within the shortest possible time.

I’ll start with healthcare technology in LMICs, where it is far from being a bare minimum, particularly for the majority population living in rural areas. For example, X-ray and ECG, two vital technologies for healthcare, were invented more than a hundred years back, still most people in LMICs do not have access to their services. While hardly a few percent enjoys benefits of latest healthcare technology, all imported at very high costs, for over 90% it remains far-fetched. Imported medical devices are very expensive to begin with, they mostly do not sustain long due to the warm weather and power line fluctuations common in LMICs. Because of non-availability and high cost of spares, and a huge technology gap, local repair is virtually impossible. Therefore, most such equipment are thrown away once something goes wrong, which may happen even within months of procurement. In addition to resource wastage, this contributes to a huge e-waste, polluting the environment. Furthermore, qualified doctors like to live in cities, so rural people consult quacks or drug sellers for ailments resulting in maltreatment, misuse of antibiotics, thus leading to complications, even permanent disability or death. Women, children, the elderly and the infirm suffer the most.

My project will firstly involve establishing an ‘International Centre for Technology Equalisation (ICTEq)’ in Bangladesh. Here, the following activities will be initiated establishing necessary facilities and engaging required manpower.

• Training to science & engineering graduates for design, development and manufacture of chosen essential electro-medical devices and in entrepreneurship. The trainees will be invited from all LMICs.
• Support and initial supervision to trainees in setting up enterprises in their own countries, both in terms of expertise and seed funds.
• R&D for design, development and fabrication of finished prototypes. R&D manpower from different LMICs will work jointly with volunteers from HICs.
• No patent will be taken on innovations. All developed technologies will be proactively disseminated to the trainees.
• Later the activities will be extended to other areas of technology that enhance the quality of life.

Through the trainees from other LMICs, similar centres will be established in other LMICs in the next phase of the work. These will all come under the ‘Global Network for Technology equalisation’. This network will also study policy obstacles in the countries of the trainees and take proactive steps to work with the respective national policymakers to bring desired changes.

My project targets the majority of people living in small towns and rural areas of LMICs like Bangladesh who do not have access to basic medical devices nor to qualified doctors. It was a mission to utilise my knowledge and expertise in science & technology in enhancing the quality of life of the common people since starting my professional career in 1978. This effort gave me insights to the above problems; lack of home-grown technology came out as the foremost. Therefore, together with students, I started developing home-grown versions of existing medical devices that are affordable and have a long usable life under our environment, or through innovating appropriate technologies. I also realised that ‘patenting’ is a major factor behind the huge global disparity and decided quite early on not to take patents ourselves. Already a team of dedicated young scientists and technologists found resonance in my philosophy and joined me in establishing an eco-system comprising of three sister organisations through which we are producing and selling some essential electro-medical devices and service systems (telemedicine) to hundreds and thousands of people in Bangladesh. Through this project, we would like to expand it further in Bangladesh and also in other LMICs.

A majority of global population living in rural areas of LMICs are deprived of the benefits of modern healthcare technology. This contributes to poor health and narrowing down of opportunities, increasing poverty. Besides, the highly educated science & technology graduates in these countries do not have opportunities to serve their people properly. My project will train these graduates to become designers and entrepreneurs of essential electro-medical devices so that they can set up SMEs to manufacture and supply such items to hospitals and clinics all over their country, whether in cities or in the rural areas, at affordable costs.

Observing the culture of technology innovation in UK and its impact on the quality of life while pursuing higher studies in microelectronics during 1974-78, I realised that lack of indigenous technology is the main factor behind the poor quality of life in my home country, Bangladesh. I sought areas where my science & technology education could be useful in developing technology for the people, as a teacher in Dhaka University. Through inspiration of seniors I chose solar energy and Biomedical Physics & Technology, and supervised hundred-plus post graduate theses. Soon I realised that most R&D outcomes at our universities rot in the laboratory since it is generally held that scientists should not be entrepreneurs and leave it to industries. All ‘industries’ in the country are based on foreign technology and the capability to take an indigenous technology to market did not exist. After some failures going the traditional way, I myself became an entrepreneur and the effort succeeded. Gradually, many ex-students joined me and I established a number of institutions for development and commercial dissemination of healthcare technology. Then I felt that this has the ‘solution’ for all LMICs of the world and that initiated the idea of the project. 

Since my years of education I had felt that I have only one life, it has to be meaningful. I also realised that the poor, half fed people in our country had equal rights but they sacrificed their share to provide me education at home and abroad, hoping that someday I will provide them with necessary succour; but most highly educated people forgot this responsibility, choosing a good life in the advanced countries. This realisation produced a strong urge in me to come back home straight after my PhD in 1978 and I committed myself to developing technology solutions for my people to enhance their quality of life, even if I have to change my field of specialisation. It was a coincidence that I stumbled upon healthcare technology and this appeared to match my passion greatly, which also was crucial as a basic necessity, not available to a great majority of our population. I also found out that imported technology does not provide solution for all the maladies of our people, there is significant necessity for local innovation. I realised that the same should be true for the majority global population living in the LMICs and my efforts should expand.

I made different gadgets as a hobby since childhood and became a person called to solve technical problems at home. At university I studied Physics which gave me in-depth understanding of science and technology besides the ability to analyse other activities, in diversified fields of medicine, business, economics, politics, etc., and their complex interactions influencing human life and society. As a university teacher I made myself an entrepreneur in parallel manufacturing devices based on our research outcomes. Fortunately, Biomedical Physics Engineering came my way which was more akin to my objectives of enhancing the quality of life of common people. An academic link with a UK university in the 1980s gave me necessary knowledge and expertise in modern areas of this topic. Successful outcomes of our research resulted in opening a new department of Biomedical Physics & Technology with me as the first Chairperson in 2008. I focused on PhD research initially which brought in a host of young people with skills in modern technology, who shared my philosophy and together, we developed technology based products for commercialisation, initiated a learned society and a non-shareholding company, for further R&D, dissemination and commercialisation of our research outcomes. I also have a good understanding of the obstacles posed by social and state cultures to indigenous technology proliferation in LMICs like ours. I go with young people very well and all the above activities and the experience gained make me uniquely positioned to solve the problem proposed through my project.

When we started ‘medical physics’ research at Dhaka University, we were scoffed at by the purist seniors saying it is not ‘Physics’. I was superseded by others in academic upgrading. I kept my aims focused that I am here to do something useful for the common people who sacrificed to provide me education. Eventually we became the only group in the department which could gain national and international attention that eventually led the university to make me a Professor at an early age and open a new department of Biomedical Physics & Technology under my leadership. Again, the university rules did not allow me to become an entrepreneur directly. So, I found out a loophole that if I do not take any remuneration I can bend the rules, which I did. For my early entrepreneurship, I innovated and developed a power line abnormality protection product for electrical appliances, like which there was none in the market. No industries wanted to take this up when I approached them. I was convinced about its usefulness. With virtually no capital I started a venture from my residence. Eventually, this became a successful product in the market which others started to copy as well. 

When my first enterprise started flourishing I collaborated with a large NGO hoping for further expansion. The NGO took majority share and appointed a Managing Director with 30 years business experience. The company suffered heavy losses for about a year. A new MD with similar experience was appointed. He started siphoning off money from our company in connivance with someone in the NGO. The losses increased. The staff remained unpaid for months who also became corrupt. The NGO decided to close down the company. Since the company was based on my technological innovations, this closure would be a major blow for my credibility. I pleaded to give me a chance to run the company, which I would do in parallel to my university duties. I was given 6 months to bring it to break-even. To the corrupt staff I said on the very first day, ‘I will forget all the past if you pledge honesty from today’. This worked like magic and they carried forward the company to success. Within two months the company started making operational profits and at the evaluation meeting after 6 months, some board members termed it as ‘miracle’. The company survived.

My project team is spread out in the following three organisations, each founded by me.

• Relevant Science & Technology Society, Bangladesh (1996)
• Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology, University of Dhaka (2008)
• BiBEAT Limited (2013). This is a ‘Company Limited by Guarantee’, nobody can take its profits.

All the three will participate in the proposed ‘International Centre for Technology Equalisation’ and the ‘Global Network for Technology Equalisation’. All the three organisations resolved not to take patents on their innovations. This is based on my analysis that ‘patenting’ is a major factor behind the unacceptable global disparity.

Proliferation of human civilisation materialised due to free exchange of technology. Over the last few centuries, ‘patenting’ has overturned this all, resulting in technology disparity due to which almost two thirds of humankind now lives in misery and poverty; a life devoid of the benefits of modern technology. Global disparity has reached a scale that is no more acceptable. This is particularly remarkable in the area of health and well-being. Therefore, my project, ‘Global Network for Technology Equalisation’ is a disruptive concept under the present global scenario in the industrial sector. Unless the disparity in technology-capability is reduced globally, the global disparity will not decrease.

Again, the High Income Countries (HIC) had their industrial revolution a few centuries back. Initially the technology innovator used to be the entrepreneur, taking a technology innovation to an industrial product through industrial design, field trial and then commercial production. These industries evolved into giants and now they can take up technological innovation from others to commercialisation. University-Industry interrelationship has become a buzz word in HICs. Unfortunately, no such industrial revolution happened in the LMICs, but all their policymakers and their advisers from HICs assume that they have the same scenario as in the HICs, and the same buzz-words are oft-repeated. All efforts and resources engaged to gear up commercial production based on technology innovations of local talents only result in failure and wastage of scarce resources. Therefore, turning technology innovators into entrepreneurs in my project is also disruptive under the present intellectual regime.

‘Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime’, this ancient saying seems to remain out of our minds when we sit in international development forums and discourses. It is now almost universally accepted that all sophisticated and modern medical devices will be produced by the HICs and the people of the LMICs will receive old or out-of-use equipment through ‘medical equipment donation programmes’ if they cannot afford. Many experts of HICs involved in such programmes have opined that 70% of such equipment either lie unused, or become irreparable after a limited use. It is hard to throw away such expensive items, even if these are not working, so they occupy scarce hospital space for decades. Inevitably it contributes to a huge e-waste polluting the environment at the end. The same eventuality faces even new equipment procured at exorbitantly high costs relative to the income of the LMICs. Because of a huge technology gap, economic disparity, technology secrets maintained by HIC manufacturers, non-availability of spares, these devices are never used till the end of the expected lifetimes, a luxury for the low income people indeed! Besides, devices developed in the HICs are not usually designed to stand the warm weather and extreme power line abnormalities in the LMICs.

When I developed my first device with the potential of commercialisation, people told me, ‘you are a scientist, you should give it to businessmen’. I did, but the project failed in a few months. When I myself became the entrepreneur, it succeeded. Again at a stage when I gave my successful industry to a large NGO engaging traditionally experienced business managers, it suffered heavy losses. When I took the management again, it flourished. It is a big lesson that there is no alternative to technology innovators becoming entrepreneurs at this stage in the LMICs.

Therefore, I believe the solution lies in the ancient saying on the ‘fish’ and my project essentially is a realisation of that saying in all spheres of technology, starting from that of healthcare.

Although my project is a proposed one, but it is based on the activities of three organisations that I founded, creating an eco-system as mentioned before. Our devices have been sold to thousands of individuals for home remedy as well as to hospitals in Bangladesh and a couple of neighbouring countries, where tens of thousands of people have benefitted. Again, from the university, we are running a telemedicine programme for the rural poor using our home-grown technology for over 5 years, having very limited resources, but it is one of the longest sustained telemedicine programme in Bangladesh. Already we have served about 30,000 rural people, mostly women, children and the elderly, many of whom would not have a proper consultation of a qualified doctor had our telemedicine centres were not there. Again, the model of dissemination, through local entrepreneurs, based on trust, has allowed only two of us to administer about 50 centres. We received several national and international awards for this programme.

Through our income generating programmes in these three organisations, we hope to double the number of people benefitted in the next year or two, and start penetrating some African and South Asian LMICs with whom we are already in contact, and further on in the next five years. However, if we get the support from MIT Elevator, the number of countries covered in the next five years could be many and the number of beneficiaries could go into millions.

The goals described below assume that I receive the MIT Elevator prize, giving some seed money, besides credibility and publicity to attract more funds and interested groups. Within next year we will establish the ‘International Centre of Technology Equalisation (ICTEq)’ in Bangladesh which will start training science & technology graduates (about 15 in number in the first batch) from Bangladesh and a few LMICs in a computerised ECG equipment, and a few simple devices for non-invasive therapy that we are selling now with success. These graduates will then be nurtured to become entrepreneurs through our close monitoring. Next year, we will expand the training programme and train about 50 from different LMICs. We will also train them in other equipment that we designed that are already successful in the market. This will allow them to sustain their entrepreneurship and also design or improvise new items according to their individual regional needs. We will also help and guide them in the R&D. In the later years, we will expand the training programme to bring in more trainees from other countries and simultaneously expand the R&D programme to develop more items based on feedback from past trainees. We will also invite volunteer scientists and engineers from HICs to work at ICTEq for short intervals, sharing their expertise to our in-house team. In the third year we will try to connect all the trainees in different countries to set up branches of ICTEq and initiate the proposed Global Network for Technology Equalisation.

Financial:

• • We need the costs to set up an ‘International Centre for Technology Equalisation (ICTEq)’ in a hired space with a minimum of management and scientific manpower. This will be set up to have R&D and training facilities for electro-medical equipment which will involve procurement of necessary equipment, mechanical and electronic tools, digital multimedia equipment, furniture and fittings.
  • We need to pay travel costs and allowances to about 15 trainees in the first year, the number increasing in successive years, coming from home and abroad. The periods may be 9 to 12 months for each training session.
  • We will pay a seed money to each trainee for initiating an enterprise after they graduate. This may be recouped from the successful ones after reasonable periods, but some may not be recouped at all.
  • The trainees from other countries will need financial assistance to set up branches of ICTEq which will eventually lead to the ‘Global Network for Technology Equalisation (GNTEq)’.
• Legal: In Bangladesh, we know the legal routes and steps for setting up of SMEs, so there will not be any problem for local trainees, but for other LMICs, we are not sure.
• Market barriers: There may be opposition from importers of similar equipment, who may try to damage the efforts through different possible ways, sometimes influencing the national policymakers. Although the Government policies are supportive to local SMEs, in practice they are often the opposite due to the influence of such vested interests.

Our plan to overcome the above barriers:

• Financial: We are seeking an initial grant to set up and carry forward the activities of ICTEq and the proposed GNTEq.
• Legal barriers will arise when we complete the training of graduates from other LMICs and we have to deal with the issues in each individual country. If necessary, we will use the goodwill of international agencies to influence the policies of individual countries. ICTEq and GNTEq will be able to contribute to this greatly.
• To overcome market barriers we try to develop products that solve local problems and exact equivalent of which is not available from abroad or where the imported ones are very expensive. This is particularly true for equipment having computer software segments since R&D manpower costs in the HICs are very high.
• To influence national policies, we feel, if we can generate a critical mass of young entrepreneurs in each country within the next 5 years, we can lobby with the respective governments to formulate favourable policies. Again, international goodwill and the influence of ICTEq and GNTEq will help.
• Covid-19 has shown the necessity of developing home-grown technology. Therefore, the present situation will make it easier to change the mind-set of the policymakers.

As mentioned before, I spearheaded the founding of three organisations which will cooperate with each other in setting up and taking forward the activities of ICTEq and GNTEq. The activities of the organisations are summarised below.

• Department of Biomedical Physics & Technology (BMPT), University of Dhaka. This will seek new knowledge and innovate technologies for biomedical applications.
• Relevant Science & Technology Society, Bangladesh. Within this we have set up an institute named ‘Relevant Science & Technology Institute (RSTI)’. RSTI will take up items innovated by BMPT, and will carry out further R&D to take these towards finished products or processes, carry out field trials and piloting. RSTI will also carry out R&D on all branches of technology that have relevance to the quality of life of the common people. RSTI will also take the responsibility of disseminating technology to people that have no commercial aspects.
• BiBEAT Limited. This will manufacture and market final products having commercial prospects and coming out of the R&D of BMPT and RSTI. As mentioned before, it is a ‘Company Limited by Guarantee’, there are no shareholders and nobody can take its profits. The profits earned by BiBEAT will be fed back to the sustenance of RSTI and will also be used to fund research at BMPT in future. If the income is enough it will also try to contribute to the expenses of ICTEq and GNTEq, but it will take a few more years to come to that stage. 

ICTEq and GNTEq are basically philanthropic organisations and do not need to have a business model. However, as mentioned before, we will try to recoup some funds given to the trainees as seed funds for initiating their enterprises, although not all will come back. 

ICTEq and GNTEq are not fund generating projects.

However, to support the expenses beyond grants, we are expecting expansion of one of our organisations, Bi-BEAT Limited, within the next five years which will give us enough margins to supplement some expenses of ICTEq and GNTEq. Again, coming to establish branches of ICTEq in other LMICs, we will also give the responsibility of the trainees in the respective countries to seek funds for their own centres.

We have not generated any funds yet for ICTEq and GNTEq. However, we plan to seek some funds from corporate bodies in Bangladesh within the next year.

We have not generated any funds yet for ICTEq and GNTEq. However, we plan to seek some funds from corporate bodies in Bangladesh within the next year. Besides, as mentioned before, we are expecting expansion of one of our organisations, Bi-BEAT Limited, within the next five years which will give us enough margins to supplement some expenses of ICTEq and GNTEq. Again, coming to establish branches of ICTEq in other LMICs, we will also give the responsibility of the trainees in the respective countries to seek funds for their own centres.

First year expense: USD 250,000

Seed money for trainees will be needed in the second year onward.

First year expenses will include the following:

• Setting up of ICTEq in a rented premises, rests and furnishing costs
• R&D facility for 5 scientists (who will also double as trainers)
• Training facility for 15 trainees, including electronic equipment and tools.
• Travel costs and living expenses for 12 months for 10 foreign trainees.
• Living expenses for 12 months for 5 local trainees.
• Preparation of training materials.
• Equipment for preparation of training materials (video, multimedia, laptops, etc.)
• Components and spares for training.
• Remuneration to permanent staff (Scientists & engineers, laboratory assistants, management personnel, support staff)
• Publicity to invite trainees, initial testing and selection.
• Organising seminars, etc. Local travel  

• Financial barrier is the most important and MIT Elevator Prize will help me overcome this. The prize will give me credibility to seek funds from others.
• For legal barriers in setting up small start-up enterprises will not be a big hassle. However, MIT Elevator Prize will minimise these hassles to a great extent in the respective LMICs of the trainees.
• Market barriers: The image and publicity obtained through MIT Elevator Prize will help us in lobbying with policymakers in the LMICs where our trainees will come from, and where they will work. 

Funding is the main support that we need for the project to succeed. For legal and regulatory matters we will need to work with the Governments of the LMICs from where our trainees will come from, where we will need advice and partners. For marketing, media and exposure, we will need advice, mentorship and partners.

As mentioned before, I established three organisations in Bangladesh which will support the project activities. Since we do not take patents, we cannot partner with most business organisations. Therefore, our partnership can happen only with academic and non-profit social enterprises.