Safeguard the delivery of effective vaccines with Johnson & Johnson and Deloitte

Could you help ensure isolated communities receive effective vaccines? J&J GPH and Deloitte are asking you to use satellite positioning and IoT technology to give greater certainty to those helping the world’s most vulnerable.

With the rapid spread of COVID-19, the global supply of vaccines has never been a more pressing issue. The world is waiting anxiously for an effective way to protect our communities from this invisible threat. However, for those in the most isolated parts of the globe, this wait is something they have been living with for a long time. Their health and quality of life are significantly affected by their access to vaccines; but ensuring each dose arrives in a usable condition can be a difficult task.

Johnson & Johnson Global Public Health (J&J GPH) produce millions of vaccine doses every year that are sent all around the globe. Transported in chilled boxes of glass vials, these vaccines need to be kept within a strict temperature range or they risk becoming ineffective. This becomes even more challenging in the world’s most remote regions where transport infrastructure is less consistent. Front-line healthcare workers have little way of knowing if these vaccines have been kept at the correct temperature throughout their journey and whether they will be effective. As challenge partners to Point.IoT, J&J GPH and Deloitte are asking you to use satellite positioning and IoT technology to give greater certainty to those helping the world’s most vulnerable.

This use case will put your skills to the test! Focusing on the supply chain to one of their most challenging locations, sub-Saharan Africa, your solution will need to be highly flexible, affordable and be able to operate even when WiFi is not available. Your solution will make accurate, temperature and location data accessible to everyone along the supply chain, providing visibility over the conditions of individual vaccine boxes throughout their journey. This will not only give front-line workers confidence that the vaccines they administer are effective, but also empower users to identify issues and intervene as required to ensure vaccine boxes are staying at their correct temperature.

J&J GPH is on a mission to eliminate common diseases using transformative medical innovations. With new vaccines for diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis already in development, they are looking to leverage these to bring additional new vaccines to market, including an effective immunisation for COVID-19. Along with Deloitte, they are looking for Point.IoT participants to develop a technology they can implement across their global supply chain; with the developed product becoming a key component in their work to ensure safe, effective vaccines are delivered to the world’s most vulnerable communities.

Can you develop a next-gen solution?

Point.IoT 2020 offers 10 teams the chance to connect with mentors, industry experts and potential investors while developing next-gen solutions to real-world industry challenges. Using satellite positioning and IoT technologies; the teams selected to take part will have the opportunity to develop a market-ready solution whilst competing for a €20,000 cash prize.

This use case by J&J GPH and Deloitte is a part of the Asset Tracking for Large Scale Infrastructure challenge. Participants are challenged to design and develop the next generation of asset tracking and management solutions for industries with large-scale infrastructure. Harness the full power of IoT and Galileo technologies to equip operations managers with the insights they need to make crucial decisions on maintenance, business operations and safety while preventing unnecessary loss and damage.

Entrepreneurs, software/hardware developers, researchers and students and existing start-ups are welcome to apply. Visit our programme page for full information, gather your team and submit your application! Our easy online portal is open until June 28.