Publications
Publications
- November 2023
- HBS Case Collection
The Commons Project in Rwanda—Building Digital Infrastructure for the Global Public Good
By: Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui and Tom Quinn
Abstract
In September 2022, The Commons Project Foundation (TCP) CEO Zhenya Lindgardt and her team met on a Zoom call to discuss building tools to help Rwandans manage their health data. They believed that helping Africa build digital infrastructure would improve much-needed healthcare service delivery. TCP had started in the U.S. with health data, building tools and protocols that would allow people to access, store, and share their medical information. This was difficult given privacy concerns, obsolete storage methods, interoperability problems among providers, and strict legal requirements.
Leaders in less-developed markets in Africa saw the value of TCP’s person-centered approach to health data. TCP considered how to reach its goal and scale, and how to fund its ambitious vision. Who should pay for digital infrastructure that was a public good? Were the answers the same in the U.S. and in Africa?
Leaders in less-developed markets in Africa saw the value of TCP’s person-centered approach to health data. TCP considered how to reach its goal and scale, and how to fund its ambitious vision. Who should pay for digital infrastructure that was a public good? Were the answers the same in the U.S. and in Africa?
Keywords
Developing Countries and Economies; Capital; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Health Care and Treatment; Information Management; Adaptation; Information Infrastructure; Information Technology Industry; Rwanda; United States
Citation
Rodríguez Arregui, Álvaro, and Tom Quinn. "The Commons Project in Rwanda—Building Digital Infrastructure for the Global Public Good." Harvard Business School Case 824-026, November 2023.