Around the world there is an increasing understanding that public policies and development programmes can be better designed and delivered if worked closely with citizens: women and men. With this in mind, UNDP in Armenia teamed up with EU-supported Kolba Innovations Lab that organized a crowdsourced idea competition on improving healthcare issues in Armenia in 2016.

Gayane Hovhannisyan, 28, is an Occupational Therapist, working in the state orphanage in Kharberd, where 220 children with special needs live. She also works for Louse rehabilitation centre where she provides professional services to children. Drawing from her 12-year experience and everyday work with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Gayane had many ideas flowing in her head on how to alleviate the life of children with ASD, their parents and therapists, but she didn’t know where to start from. That’s when a friend of hers told about the Kolba Lab's idea competition regarding healthcare issues in Armenia.

Gayane suggested a technological solution – Yamaka mobile application, which was later renamed to “noomee”. Through interactive visuals, this application will help develop children’s communicational, behavioural and verbal skills; as well as help them become self-dependent and complete actions on their own. The team, led by Gayane, is currently working to integrate a function in the application for parents, that will allow them to see the location of their child on the map.

Among more than 50 idea submissions, Gayane’s idea was shortlisted and eventually got selected as a winning idea at final pitching ceremony during Social Innovation Camp on Healthcare. All finalist teams were led by women.

At present, having already been tested twice, the application is in its final stage of development and is expected to enter the digital market and be available for downloading by the end of the year. The children’s interface is designed in a more playful way to make it more attractive for young users.