Eng. Eric Beda

Regional IT Specialist

SACIDS Foundation for One Health

Eric Beda is a highly accomplished IT expert with a specialization in health surveillance. He earned his MSc in Electrical Engineering and BSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Cape Town. Throughout his academic and professional endeavors, he cultivated a strong passion for utilizing state-of-the-art technology to improve public health systems and craft tailored digital solutions for comprehensive one health management and disease surveillance, particularly with a focus on the African context.

Professional Experience:

With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry, 10 of which working in One Health approaches in disease surveillance, Eric Beda has established himself as a leader in digital health surveillance. He began his career as a system administrator and network engineer at University Computing Center, where he worked on developing and setting up data integration platforms, information systems and real time data management for student information management. His early experience allowed him to understand the intricacies of data management and the importance of maintaining data privacy and security

Eric Beda’s dedication to the field led him to join SACIDS Foundation for One Health (formerly Southern African Center for Infectious Disease Surveillance) as a Regional ICT Specialist, where he played a crucial role in designing and implementing context specific digital health surveillance systems. His contributions helped SACIDS in establishing itself as a pioneer in community based one health security through the use of digital solutions

At SACIDS, he collaborated with international teams, advising countries and organizations on building and enhancing their digital one health surveillance capabilities. Eric Beda played a significant role in pioneering one health surveillance technologies related to interoperability, early warning and decision-making in preparing for the next epidemic/pandemic

Skills and Expertise:

1. Health Surveillance Technology: Eric Beda has in-depth knowledge of health surveillance technologies, including data integration, data warehousing, and real-time analytics platforms. He is proficient in designing, developing and deploying advanced community and/or participatory focused surveillance systems like AfyaData, AfyaWatch and AfyaMsafiri, with knowledge transfer strategy revolving around the collaborative approach of co-creationand co-deployment, thus ensures that organizations and teams he works with gain comprehensive knowledge and expertise in managing and deploying the platforms developed.
2. Public Health Policy: He possesses a comprehensive understanding of public health policies, regulations, and ethical considerations related to health surveillance and data management.
3. Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Eric Beda is adept at collaborating with epidemiologists, public health experts, clinicians, and policymakers to translate technical solutions into practical and impactful interventions. This provides a backdrop in his ability in conceptualizing solutions by applying a one health approach for a responsible context specific IT strategy in disease surveillance
4. Event Based Surveillance, Management and Preparedness: Through work on designing and developing a One Health Dashboard with One Health Section under Disaster Management unit at Prime Minister’s Office in Tanzania; He has gained extensive experience in designing event-based management systems and preparedness plans for health emergencies, such as disease outbreaks and natural disasters.

Overall, Eric Beda is a visionary IT expert who has revolutionized health surveillance with his innovative solutions and continues to drive positive change in community focused digital health systems. His passion for leveraging technology to improve global health outcomes makes him an indispensable asset in the health surveillance field.