Simprints
Model & Strategy
Simprints is a nonprofit tech company working to radically increase transparency and effectiveness in global development. Simprints builds ethical and inclusive digital ID powered by biometrics to ensure that every vaccine, every dollar, and every public good reaches the people who need them most. To date, Simprints has verified the delivery of health and humanitarian aid to over 2 million people across 17 countries, and they are on track to reach 3 million people by the end of 2024.
The Problem
Almost 1 billion (one in seven) people globally lack any formal identity, barring access to essential, life-saving services. Without reliable identification, it is incredibly difficult for NGOs and governments to link children to vaccine records, track healthcare visits for pregnant mothers, or ensure that cash and aid reach those who need it the most. Fit-for-purpose biometrics have proven to be a promising solution by accurately linking people to their records and empowering NGOs, businesses, and governments to reach the most marginalized populations.
However, existing technologies are closed-source, unaccountable, and unsuitable for the frontlines of global health or humanitarian aid. For example, multiple studies have demonstrated racial, ethnic, and gender biases can be found in AI biometric algorithms: a U.S. government study released in December 2019 found that Asian and African American people were misidentified up to 100 times more frequently than white men by the world’s top recognition systems.
The Solution
Simprints builds ethical and inclusive digital ID powered by biometrics to ensure that health and aid reaches the most vulnerable. Using a wireless biometric scanner, a mobile app, and the cloud, Simprints enrolls and matches people to their digital records with a touch of a finger or contactless with a face capture. Simprints offers technology that easily integrates into existing tools, personalized project setup, and robust training for streamlined implementation. Simprints has developed and rigorously tested their technology with partners across Africa and Asia to work for health or aid workers operating in challenging last mile offline environments. Simprints partners with organizations like Gavi to boost immunization rates, Ministries of Health like Ghana on pandemic response, and NGOs like BRAC to deliver maternal healthcare. To date, Simprints has identified over 2.5 million people across 17 countries.
Toby is an entrepreneur passionate about bringing the best of the world’s technology to serve the poorest of the world’s citizens. He began his journey with Simprints while studying frontline community health workers in Bangladesh for 4 years. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge on a Gates Scholarship and BA from Harvard. He has worked for nearly a decade with doctors and healthworkers across Africa, Asia, and Central America on initiatives to improve healthcare delivery through technology. He is a 2016 Forbes Europe 30 under 30 Social Entrepreneurs, and a 2017 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awardee.
IMPACT
A peer-reviewed study found that the deployment of Simprints for anonymous HIV testing and care led to a 56% improvement in accurately linking women to HIV care. They also increased patient confidentiality by removing the need for names or dates of birth to be linked to treatment.
By using Simprints in Ethiopia, the Ministry of Health has enabled health workers to pull up patient records ten times faster through the use of digital ID. Further, data discrepancies were reduced from 39% to less than 5% within the last three years.
An independent evaluation of a maternal health program Simprints supported found 37.4% of women in the cohort achieved the WHO-recommended eight antenatal care (ANC) visits, compared to 13.1% in the control group: a 185% improvement of complete ANC coverage against the control group. WHO research shows a minimum of eight ANC visits can reduce perinatal deaths by up to eight per 1,000 births when compared to a minimum of four visits: a 43% to 68% decrease in maternal deaths.
Simprints News
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Biometric Tracking Can Ensure Billions Have Immunity Against Covid-19When the Covid-19 vaccine is released, the world will embark on one of the most challenging public health delivery campaigns ever attempted. Nowhere will this…Aug 2020 -
How Biometrics is Giving Identities to 'Invisible Citizens'(CNN) – Around the globe an estimated 1.1 billion people are unable to prove their identity. They have no official ID — no passport, no…Feb 2018 -
Introducing the Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 AwardeesThe Schwab Foundation’s 2017 Social Entrepreneur of the Year Awardees include 17 outstanding leaders at the helm of 13 organizations pioneering solutions for social and…Apr 2017
