Every year Avanade organizes the Global Innovation Contest. A challenge for Avanade teams around the globe to join forces and co-innovate for different industries. Saumya Shah, Cloud Consultant, and Mitchell Bakker, Senior Consultant - Modern Workplace decided to work together and build an innovative portal for the healthcare industry.

Working with Power App

Saumya: “I joined Avanade in 2021 and soon after I was first introduced to the Digital Experience Program, called !InnovateFest. Joining dozens of online sessions helped speed up the learning process and rapidly expand my knowledge about industry trends and innovation opportunities. Every day I took quizzes to test my knowledge and ended up in the top 10. With this information fresh in mind, I learned about the Global Innovation Contest for which you need to submit an innovative idea solution in a specific industry that can help Avanade’s clients.”

Building a portal

After consulting with her career advisor and triggered by her own expertise and enthusiasm, Saumya was determined to build a solution for the healthcare industry. During this process, she asked Mitchell to join the team: “A team of two is not ideal, but we managed to pitch a solution and started building a portal in Microsoft Power Apps. We were still amid the Covid-19 pandemic and the industry was faced with many challenges. Saumya: “We wanted to create a portal where healthcare professionals and patients could connect, without the limits of having a local healthcare industry and offering.”

Investing time and energy

In the beginning Saumya and Mitchell were competing with 3 other teams. All existing of multidisciplinary teams with more than 2 people. Mitchell: “Next to that, we are both tech experts and focus solely on the infrastructure of the solution. I like to compare this expertise with plumbing: we make sure the hidden technology (the pipes) is properly connected before someone else can fine tune the product for delivery. Saumya and I spend evenings and weekends building the portal. Our hard work paid off because we came in second place.”

Introducing Digi Health

Saumya: “Our portal is called Digi Health and enables online consulting via video conferencing for healthcare professionals and patients across the globe. You can locate a professional outside your country and plan a consultation. Also, it is possible to start a crowdfunding campaign and ask for donations to cover your medical costs.” Mitchell: “Users can search and select a professional with the help of ratings and comments. We paid attention to details, and it is not easy because of the diversity and regulatory differences in different countries. But at the same time, we were determined to provide a solution with high usability.”

New solution with existing technology

After the voting, which included all Avanadi and a technical Jury, Digi Health came in second place. Saumya: “We are really pleased with the outcome and the results. We accomplished this with just two people and with existing technologies. If you would like to participate in the Global Innovation Content my tip would be to have a solid number of team members from different Talent Communities.” Mitchell: “Even without a live demo we were able to become runners-up in the contest. My advice would be to make sure you have enough support to form a team from the management to Talent Communities leads.”

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