A cross-sectional survey was conducted in neonatal and maternity units of five Kenyan district public hospitals. Data for 1 year were obtained: 3999 maternal and 1836 neonatal records plus tallies of maternal deaths, deliveries and stillbirths. There were 40 maternal deaths [maternal mortality ratio: 276 per 100 000 live births, 95% confidence interval (CI): 197–376]. Fresh stillbirths ranged from 11 to 43 per 1000 births. A fifth (19%, 263 of 1384, 95% CI: 11–30%) of the admitted neonates died. Compared with normal birth weight, odds of death were significantly higher in all of the low birth weight (LBW, <2500 g) categories, with the highest odds for the extremely LBW (<1000 g) category (odds ratio: 59, 95% CI: 21–158, p < 0.01). The observed maternal mortality, stillbirths and neonatal mortality call for implementation of the continuum of care approach to intervention delivery with particular emphasis on LBW babies.

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The transition towards full network virtualization will see services for smart ecosystems including smart metering, healthcare and transportation among others, being deployed as Service Function Chains (SFCs) comprised of an ordered set of virtual network functions. However, since such services are usually deployed in remote cloud networks, the SFCs may transcend multiple domains belonging to different Infrastructure Providers (InPs), possibly with differing policies regarding billing and Quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees. Therefore, efficiently allocating the exhaustible network resources to the different SFCs while meeting the stringent requirements of the services such as delay and QoS among others, remains a complex challenge, especially under limited information disclosure by the InPs. In this work, we formulate the SFC deployment problem across multiple domains focusing on delay constraints, and propose a framework for SFC orchestration which adheres to the privacy requirements of the InPs. Then, we propose a Reinforcement Learning (RL) basedalgorithm for partitioning the SFC request across the different InPs while considering service reliability across the participating InPs. Such RL based algorithms have the intelligence to infer undisclosed InP information from historical data obtained from past experiences. Simulation results, considering both online and offline scenarios, reveal that the proposed algorithm results in

The technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) renders itself easily to a variety of applications because of their characteristics such as flexibility, quick deployment and cost effectiveness. Developing countries can harness UAV technology for humanitarian and development goals. This paper presents five interesting UAV applications for developing countries and these include disaster management, agriculture, delivery, surveillance of transmission lines and network coverage. UAVs aid the process of disaster management because they can be quickly deployed to take imagery which is used by rescue teams. They offer a cheap alternative to satellites and manned aircraft for agricultural mapping and management. Developing countries are faced with the major challenge of inadequate infrastructure which can be overcome by using UAVs to make especially emergency deliveries. UAVs are more effective at inspecting power transmission lines than manual techniques especially in developing countries where it is expected that the power transmission lines will span over tens of thousands of kilometres. Network coverage can be achieved cost effectively using UAVs for rural remote areas that are neglected by network operators because of their low economic return. This paper also discusses challenges that must be overcome to fully exploit UAV technology for the mentioned applications. Additionally, this paper presents interventions by African governments towards the development of UAV technology.

Co-design is seen as crucial for designing solutions for resource-constrained people living in developing countries. To best understand their needs, user engagement and co-design strategies need to first be developed. In this Design Practice Brief, a process of co-design was created and used to understand ways telecommunication engineers could engage with rural communities in Uganda. It reports and reflects on (i) the experience of co-designing with nondesigners and (ii) creating a co-design structure and developing co-design methods of engaging with community members living in developing countries. In doing so, it offers a format and case study for future practitioners facilitating and conducting co-design with nondesigners and contributes to a knowledge gap in the reporting and reflection of co-design practice. This case study is unique as the co-design practice was achieved remotely (online), crossed disciplines (designers and telecommunication engineers) and cultural boundaries (European and African). It finds that in co-designing with nondesigners, preparation and structure are key, with acknowledgement and management of cultural and discipline differences.