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They make our lives easier, safer, and more fun. But can they make us healthier? For young people, mobile phones are more necessity than novelty — they are intricately woven into the fabric of daily life. Now in the New Media Institute at the University of Georgia, we are going to explore ways to use our most personal media to improve our personal health. And we are going to use tomorrow's consumers to drive the innovation.
Through the Verizon Foundation's generous support we are creating the New Media Health Innovation Program (NMHIP). The NMHIP will discover the future of mobile health by creating groundbreaking prototypes.
Each semester for the next two years, the New Media Institute will engage 20 specially selected students in an in-depth investigation of how mobile technology can help people make better health behavior decisions. Students will first meet with a panel of health experts to discuss the complexities of a variety of health challenges such as diabetes management, obesity, and smoking. Then these students will work with technologists to learn the capabilities and potential of mobile technologies. The students will then join their two new domains of expertise to develop working mobile media systems that help people live healthier lifestyles.
At the conclusion of each semester, the NMHIP will host a workshop demonstrating the work of the students and discussing improvements. Finally, each system will be made available to the public for anyone to freely use and replicate.
The NMHIP kicks off in August when the students arrive back on campus. I will be providing updates as things progress. And we will issue an open invitation to anyone and everyone to attend our workshop in December.
We hope that this rapid prototyping method combined with open source distribution will drive innovation in mobile health technology. In addition, through the use of young people in all aspects of the program from conceptualization to programming to evaluation we hope that the solutions they generate will be relevant and compelling for the young consumers that will need these systems the most in the future.
The mobile phone today is our most personal medium. Through the NMHIP, we hope that we can use personal media for public good.
To view vital speeches given by our authors, visit our speeches page.
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Kathy Brown
S.V.P., Public Policy Development and Corporate Responsibility
Kathy leads Verizon's global corporate responsibility initiatives and policy development. She also oversees the Verizon Foundation.
James Gowen
Chief Sustainability Officer/
V.P. of Services Operations
James oversees Verizon’s supply chain, vehicle fleet, investment recovery, purchasing and materials management and sustainability initiatives.
Rose Kirk
President, Verizon Foundation
Rose leads Verizon's philanthropic strategy with an emphasis on projects that demonstrate the use of Verizon's technology in addressing social issues such as education, domestic violence prevention and online safety. The Verizon Foundation is one of the 15 largest corporate foundations in America.
Jack McArtney
Director of Corporate and Community Responsibility
Jack promotes digital wellness and online safety. He works with parents, educators, service providers, application developers and industry leaders to foster responsible use of Verizon's mobile and broadband networks.
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