Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Using technology for blood donation

Creating and maintaining a good voluntary blood donor base is a major problem for blood banks and hospitals. Lack of communication with donor groups is perhaps the most daunting challenge.

A Technopark-based company has come forward to use its technological expertise for a unique venture to support blood donation. Named Fastblood, the project is the latest initiative from Torque Incubation Technologies, a start-up company promoted by seven engineering students in the city. It seeks to create an extensive database linking blood donors with people in need.

The project will leverage a blend of rapid information delivery streams, including mobile and wireless communication, e-mails, newsgroups and mailing lists, automated personal calls and instant messaging to let a call-for-help reach the maximum amount of willing donors.

The system works by integrating closely-tied communication groups called `localities' into a larger whole and routing donor requests to targeted localities. The concept of localities is based on the assumption that a donor is more likely to help his or her neighbour than a stranger. The localities are closely-knit groups where everybody knows or relates to everybody else, so that an appeal for blood draws an instant response. Torque has set up two localities at the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, and the Sri Chithra Tirunal College of Engineering. "Fastblood will link the 132 licensed blood banks in the State with other localities. We are working on the creation of a database," says Anil K. Antony, one of the promoters of Torque. Fastblood is a community initiative programme, one of thrust areas of Torque.

The technology solutions company plans to donate five per cent of its revenue to charity. The fledgling enterprise has already made an impact with its Web-based support for promotion of movies and TV channels. Fastblood will be launched by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here on January 12.

T. Nanada Kumar

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