CIMAS Health Group has launched its third Healthathon competition to harness digital innovation for improved healthcare across Zimbabwe.
Official registration for Healthathon 3.0 opens on June 22 and closes on July 12. Speaking during a media briefing in Harare last week, Cimas Health Group chief executive officer Vuli Ndlovu said the initiative would bring together innovation hubs, start-ups, university students, and independent innovators to develop solutions to some of the country’s most pressing healthcare challenges.
“As the healthcare industry undergoes rapid technological transformation, Cimas Health Group acknowledges that innovation remains a critical pillar in shaping the future of healthcare, hence we continue to position ourselves as a leading national player in digital health innovation,” Ndlovu said.
“Through the Healthathon challenge, we are demonstrating our commitment to addressing some of the complex and evolving challenges facing our country’s healthcare sector, including affordability constraints, limited access to healthcare services, fragmented data systems, delayed service delivery, low preventive healthcare engagement, operational inefficiencies, and rising healthcare costs.
“The Cimas Healthathon is not merely a competition. It is a journey of creativity, collaboration, and innovation that brings together the country’s brightest innovation hubs, startups, university technology teams, and independent innovators to develop bold and technologically advanced solutions to some of the most pressing healthcare challenges affecting our communities today.”
He explained that this year’s edition will give participants significantly greater flexibility by completely removing the rigid, category-based structure utilized in previous competitions.
“Importantly, this initiative also serves as a strategic platform for crowdsourcing transformative ideas that can contribute meaningfully to our digital transformation strategy in line with our purpose: to inspire healthier communities. As Cimas Health Group, we believe collaboration, creativity, and technology are essential in driving patient-centred healthcare transformation.
“Unlike previous editions, this year’s challenge will adopt a single broad innovation challenge rather than multiple focus areas. There will be no predefined categories, giving participants the freedom to reimagine healthcare from any perspective or angle. This approach is designed to encourage greater depth, creativity, and diversity of ideas across all healthcare domains.
“Participants are, therefore, expected to bring forward imagination, originality, technical rigour, and practical solutions capable of driving meaningful change within Zimbabwe’s healthcare ecosystem. Solutions should demonstrate scalability, technical depth, real-world applicability, and sustainable impact,” he added.Cimas Health Group chief information officer Foster Akaketwa emphasised that competing teams will be strictly required to build viable, functional prototypes as a core component of the program.
“Teams must also exhibit strong technical capability and the capacity to develop a functional working prototype within the stipulated programme timeline. The challenge also seeks to promote originality and innovation. As such, submitted solutions must be unique and should not merely replicate existing platforms without significant adaptation, improvement, or contextual innovation.
“Through these participation guidelines, the Cimas Healthathon 3.0 seeks to create a credible, innovative, and impactful platform that nurtures healthcare solutions capable of improving lives and strengthening Zimbabwe’s healthcare system,” Akaketwa concluded.